On January 16, 2025, Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, carried out the maiden flight of its New Glenn heavy launcher. This mission aimed to consolidate Blue Origin’s position in an increasingly competitive space sector, in particular against Elon Musk and his company SpaceX. Xavier Pasco, doctor of political science specializing in geospatial, explains the geostrategic issues of this space race.
SpaceX and Blue Origin, integral parts of American strategy
According to Xavier Pasco, private players are increasingly preeminent in space activity. Until around twenty years ago, this space activity was held only by States, and was part of the soft power of the powers. The old industrialists in charge of the State were gradually replaced by individuals of a new type. “The industrialists that existed previously carried out public orders and handed over the rocket once built, for example, to the National Space Agency.”
In 2024, there was roughly a SpaceX launch every two days.
Private actors often carry out state projects, often financed in part with public funds. At the same time, they also have their own agenda, like Elon Musk and the conquest of Mars. “It’s a way for them to optimize public spending.” In the United States, the Department of the Interior often uses SpaceX rockets to send its satellites into space. Blue Origin’s recent launch of New Glenn aims to put the company on the international stage. This rocket aims to enter a new market, that of launching heavy commercial and military satellites. The flight has been anticipated for several years and has been postponed several times. Jeff Bezos’ company aims to catch up with its rival company, SpaceX. The latter launched a large number of rockets at an unprecedented pace, more than 240 in total, compared to around 25 for Blue Origin.
-The challenges of conquest in space
Over the past twenty years, space technologies have been getting closer to information technologies (tech). The control over space is very advantageous regarding the collection of data, in particular through the distribution of the Internet. Billionaires are not so much patrons of the state in the space sector as actors interested in expanding their influence. “Elon Musk or Bezos, these are people who find their origins in information technology.”
We must not deceive ourselves. Space remains first and foremost something statist, regal.
The same phenomenon is in full development in China: at the initiative of the State, private companies are encouraged in the space fields, with the aim of one day overtaking the United States.
