During a conversation with former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino onstage at the VivaTech conference in Paris, Bezos said that Blue Origin has been fixated on not skipping any steps.
- Explaining his rationale for picking Moon as the better option over Mars, Bezos said that the Earth’s natural satellite is very close to the planet.
- He also said that the Moon’s gravity well is lower than the Earth’s, which makes it possible to lift materials off the Moon at 28 times less energy per kilogram than from the Earth.
- Bezos said humanity will eventually explore beyond the Moon and Mars, but argued the Moon remains the best first destination for human space exploration.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday said that he is “excited” that NASA and others in the space industry are prioritizing the Moon over Mars.
During a conversation with former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino onstage at the VivaTech conference in Paris, Bezos said that Blue Origin has been fixated on not skipping any steps.
“I’m very excited to see NASA and I think most of the world recognize that we should go to the Moon first. We’ll go to Mars and we’ll do all the other things, but the Moon is the first best step,” he said.
Bezos’ comments come after rival Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) CEO Elon Must said in a post on X in February this year that SpaceX had shifted its focus to building a “self-growing city” on the Moon.
SpaceX shares were up more than 3% in Wednesday’s pre-market trade. SPCX was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing.
Bezos Explains Why Moon Is The First Choice
Explaining his rationale for picking Moon as the better option over Mars, Bezos said that the Earth’s natural satellite is very close to the planet.
“It’s kind of a gift. It’s so near Earth. You can get there in three and a half days, you can return in three and a half days. You can go anytime you want, you don’t have to wait for the planetary alignment to be just right,” he said.
Bezos added that a journey to Mars is possible only once every two years or so. He also said that the Moon’s gravity well is lower than the Earth’s, which makes it possible to lift materials off the Moon at 28 times less energy per kilogram than from the Earth.
Skipping Steps Doesn’t Make You Faster, Says Bezos
Bezos added that while he believes that humanity will eventually explore the solar system beyond the Moon and Mars, he stressed that the Earth’s natural satellite remains the best first stop for humans before they explore space.
“We will build colonies on Mars and so on… the Moon is an important first step. And when you skip steps, that doesn’t actually make you faster,” he added.
Bezos’ chief rival, Musk, had been fixated on colonizing Mars and skipping the Moon entirely until a few months ago, when he announced that SpaceX is shifting its priorities.
“For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years,” Musk said earlier this year.
SPCX stock is up 35% year-to-date. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 25% over the past 12 months, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is up 37%.
The iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI) is up 83% during this period.
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