NASA rents another historic property to rocket company Jeff Bezos

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NASA announced Wednesday in a press release that it has signed an agreement to have Blue Origin use its rocket engine test site in Huntsville, Alabama. The agreement "announces a booming commercial space," said NASA in a statement.

The Huntsville site has already hosted tests on the huge engines of the Saturn V rocket, which landed on the astronaut's moon half a century ago. It was then used to test the engines of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The installation has been dormant since 1998.

"Through this agreement, we will ensure the refurbishment, restoration and modernization of this part of American history and bring back to Huntsville the sounds of rocket engines," said Blue Origin president Bob Smith.

They are designed to equip the future Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, a massive launcher designed to send satellites and other payloads into orbit, allowing Bezos to compete directly with Elon Musk, SpaceX.

Blue Origin will also sell a rocket engine model, the BE-4, to the aviation company and former guard, United Launch Alliance. ULA, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, is building a new family of rockets called Vulcan. The outgoing president has turned to his youngest rival for a new engine – an initiative that has been celebrated because it will put an end to ULA's reliance on rocket engines made in Russia. .
This is further proof that the next generation startups are reviving the US rocket industry after years of stagnation. Panels are already widespread in Florida: many private companies are building facilities near NASA, SpaceX has taken over the famous Apollo Pad 39A launch site and Blue Origin has built a plant and plans to use an abandoned launch complex near.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center 4670 test stand has hosted engine tests for various types of launchers.
Bezos started Blue Origin in 2000, two years before the founding of SpaceX by Musk. The latter company has made the headlines in recent years, while Blue Origin has quietly tested a suborbital rocket that will be used to fly tourists in space. It now seems that the company will be ready to welcome tourists in the coming months and New Glenn should start performing unsupported orbital missions in 2021.

Investing money in the same districts where NASA is present is considered politically important for private rocket companies to win the favor of Washington DC's key legislators.

Meanwhile, NASA has shown a growing interest in recruiting private companies to take on some of its tasks. SpaceX and Boeing, for example, will soon begin transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.

The explosive growth of the new space industry in recent years has been hailed by many members of the aerospace community. The United States is approaching the fiftieth anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing this year, but NASA has not launched its astronauts on a US-made vehicle for almost 10 years.

Space Launch System, NASA's new massive rocket for travel to the farthest reaches, has fallen behind schedule and is currently facing more and more delays and criticism.

Vice President Mike Pence recently pledged to put back the boots on the Moon by 2024. He said that to achieve this goal, it would be necessary to accelerate the SLS program "by all means necessary", particularly by seeking the help of the private sector. Critics blamed politicians for touting the impeccable plan without allocating the money, according to them, to NASA.

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