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Blue Origin is adding more than 100 jobs in the Huntsville area to support thruster production. The aerospace company has expanded from an initial commitment of approximately 300 jobs to over 1,600 employees in Alabama. Since 2019, Blue Origin has grown across multiple Huntsville facilities, including the Engines Factory at Cummings Research Park and the Jemison Manufacturing Facility. The company produces various engines, including the BE-4, BE-3U, and BE-7, which power spacecraft and lunar vehicles. Blue Origin's thrusters provide spacecraft control for attitude adjustment, orbital manoeuvring, and station-keeping. Chief executive Dave Limp said the company is building propulsion systems that power American leadership in space.

Amazon seeks FCC approval for 5,000-satellite direct-to-device network. Image: ChatGPT Amazon has filed with the FCC to support a satellite-based mobile network, setting the stage for future competition with SpaceX and major US telecom providers. Jul 30, 2026 Amazon has applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a licence to operate more than 5,000 satellites as part of a new direct-to-device (D2D) network, laying the groundwork for a satellite-based mobile service that could eventually compete with SpaceX and US telecom giants AT&T and Verizon. If approved, the network could allow Amazon to provide satellite connectivity directly to mobile phones and other connected devices. Satellite race shifts toward mobile connectivity. Through its $11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar in April, Amazon gained access to the satellite network powering the Emergency SOS and Find My features on Apple devices. Amazon wants to expand the use of this bandwidth to offer satellite connectivity beyond emergency services, although current bandwidth limitations make a full mobile service unfeasible. Amazon and SpaceX both aim to launch several thousand more satellites, which could enable nationwide coverage while improving the capabilities of their networks. Such a network could eventually position Amazon as a competitor to traditional mobile carriers in some markets, particularly for coverage in remote areas. SpaceX has reportedly been considering a similar expansion into mobile networking following the success of Starlink in rural areas around the world. In its IPO prospectus, Goldman Sachs said Starlink could generate more than $100 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade, far exceeding projected revenue from SpaceX's rocket launches. Amazon already has approval to launch 7,700 satellites, although the vast majority are not yet operational. Blue Origin delays Amazon's satellite network. Even if regulators approve the licence, Amazon still faces a major deployment hurdle: getting thousands of satellites into orbit. One obstacle to that deployment is Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos. It suffered a significant setback in May when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad. Because Blue Origin currently has only one launchpad, the incident has effectively grounded operations for at least several months, with potentially only one more launch taking place this year. Blue Origin is also developing its own satellite service, which would provide high-speed, continuous internet access to business customers. Amazon is relying heavily on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to deploy its satellite constellation. Given its growing competition with SpaceX in the satellite market, it may not be at the front of the queue to launch satellites aboard its rival's Falcon rockets. While Amazon is targeting a network of fewer than 10,000 satellites, SpaceX is pushing for FCC approval to deploy as many as 100,000 third-generation Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. These would form part of a much larger network capable of providing global coverage. For consumers, this competition could eventually bring mobile coverage to areas poorly served by terrestrial networks, while placing further pressure on traditional carriers to improve prices, speeds and availability. David Curry is a tech journalist and analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the technology sector for established media outlets and research-driven publications. He has reported on the industry since the early 2010s, with a focus on B2B technology, data journalism, mobile apps and app markets, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and emerging technologies. His work combines journalism, analysis, and industry research to help readers understand how technology trends develop, how digital markets evolve, and how businesses and consumers are affected by new platforms, products, and innovations. David's coverage often explores the intersection of technology, business strategy, market data, and user behavior. David holds a BA from the University of Lincoln and a master's degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds. His academic background and years of reporting experience inform his clear, analytical approach to explaining complex technology topics for professional and general audiences.

Starship's 13th test flight ends with a lucky splashdown. Rob Pegoraro Updated Fri, July 24, 2026 at 8:52 PM PDT SpaceX's giant Starship rocket launched for its 13th time on Friday, notched two planned tests in space, and then had a lucky finish to its suborbital space odyssey: Its upper stage survived a powered landing in the Indian Ocean, at least briefly. The first accomplishment, deploying 20 Starlink V3 satellites for a quick test above the atmosphere, got SpaceX a little closer to its ambitions of delivering 60 V3 Starlinks in a single Starship launch. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been hyping that for years; in 2023, he predicted Starlink deployments from Starship by 2024. The second, relighting one of Starship's upper-stage engines, opens the way toward an also-delayed orbital test by Starship that will require a deorbit burn in space to ensure a controlled reentry. The roughly 14-second burn of one of six Raptor 3 engines on Starship's upper stage exceeded earlier tests-the last on the rocket's 11th launch last October, the final flight of an earlier V2 version of the heavy-lift launch vehicle. The third highlight of the mission could not have been a mission objective in the flight plan, because leftover propellant usually goes boom when the metal container around it smacks into something else. SpaceX got used to that during its early, unsuccessful attempts to land Falcon 9 first stages intact, and every previous Starship launch that ended with a splashdown was followed by the upper stage exploding. Friday's test flight did not follow that script, with the second stage (which SpaceX also calls Starship) flopping into the sea and then surviving flames briefly erupting around parts of it as nearby drones streamed live video. If SpaceX can recover that stage-the company's post-flight recap didn't reveal if it did-it could get valuable data about the performance of the heat shielding that protected it during reentry. Friday's launch was the second of Starship's V3 design, following a May 22 test flight that only ranked as partially successful. Flight 13 began at 5:51 p.m. Central time when the 407-foot-tall launch vehicle lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica, TX, on some 18 million pounds of thrust from the first stage's 33 Raptor 3 methane-fueled engines. The rocket had a smooth ascent to orbit, but its booster did not have the same luck on its planned descent to a soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico: Instead of 13 of those engines relighting to slow its fall, only five did. The video cut out as the stage hit the water, leaving SpaceX launch commentator Dan Huot to observe "Landing velocity did look a little bit high." SpaceX plans to have Starship boosters fly back to the launch tower to be caught by two mechanized arms-a feat the company pulled off on Starship's fifth launch but has yet to attempt with V3. Starship's liftoff Friday followed a July 16 abort in which four first-stage engines failed to start. Huot said that was the result of "some off-nominal spin response" in the turbopumps that send liquid oxygen to each engine, which SpaceX addressed by replacing those four engines and two others that reported issues. SpaceX has an immense amount riding on Starship beyond next-gen Starlink. Its hopes to make orbital data centers a commercial reality-a huge part of its IPO pitch-can't happen without this rocket performing as designed. And Thursday, Bloomberg reported that the company "has started to turn away satellite operators seeking dedicated rides to orbit aboard its staple Falcon 9 rocket beyond 2028." NASA has its own vested interest in Starship, having awarded SpaceX a $2.89 billion contract in 2021-later revised to $4 billion, with $2.8 billion paid so far-to adapt Starship's upper stage as a human lunar lander for its Artemis project. That mission concept, which SpaceX said last year it will simplify, would require multiple Starship launches to fuel a Starship Human Landing System vehicle. SpaceX has yet to demonstrate that capability. The space agency has since given SpaceX some competition two years later with a $3.4 billion contract to Blue Origin to develop its own Blue Moon lander for later Artemis landings. NASA now hopes to see both SpaceX and Blue Origin have prototype Moon landing vehicles ready for a test in Earth orbit in 2027 as part of its Artemis III mission. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin will have to work mightily to make that happen. More than three years after Starship's debut, SpaceX has to get its giant rocket into orbit and then return both stages to Earth intact, while Blue has to recover from the catastrophic explosion of its New Glenn rocket during a pre-launch test in May. Even after Starship's Friday flight, it's way too early to plan travel to the Space Coast for Artemis III. PCMag and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.