Bezos Space Project Plans HQ in Kent, WA
FYI,
"Bezos Space Project Plans HQ in Kent - Venture aims to develop
reusable launch vehicles"
King County Journal
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/221923
: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' quest to reach the stars will move
: to Kent early next year.
: The dot-com billionaire recently bought a 24.65-acre property along
: South 212th Street, about a mile east of the Boeing Space Center.
: The property will become the new headquarters for Blue Origin LLC,
: a project Bezos began in 2000.
: Blue Origin's mission, according to a brief description on the
: company's Web site, is developing reusable launch vehicles and
: technologies ``that, over time, will help enable an enduring human
: presence in space.''
: The Web site also lists several ``immediate openings'' for
: engineering and technical positions at Blue Origin.
: ``Our hiring bar is unabashedly extreme, and we insist on keeping
: our team size small (measured in the dozens),'' the company's Web
: site states. ``This means the person occupying each and every spot
: must be among the most technically gifted in his or her field.''
: The company Web site adds that job applicants ``must have a genuine
: passion for space'' and ``must want to work for a small company. We
: are building real hardware -- not PowerPoint presentations. This
: must excite you. You must be a builder.''
: Randy Bannecker, a spokesman for Blue Origin, said the company
: plans to move its headquarters from south Seattle to Kent in the
: first quarter of 2006.
: The company, which is in an expansion mode, expects to bring more
: than 100 new jobs to Kent, city officials announced in late
: October. The city did not disclose the identity of Blue Origin's
: owner when it made the announcement.
: Blue Origin is led by program manager Robert Meyerson, a veteran
: aerodynamics engineer who previously worked on the Space Shuttle
: program before moving to the Seattle area in 1997 to work for
: Kirkland-based Kistler Aerospace.
: Other Blue Origin employees include workers previously involved
: with Beal Aerospace, Iridium, and the Delta Clipper-Experimental,
: National Missile Defense and the Boeing-led Sea Launch programs.
: Bezos, through an entity identified as Blue Properties LLC, paid
: $7.8 million to acquire the Kent site, on the southeast corner of
: South 212th Street and 76th Avenue Southeast, in June, according to
: county records.
: The city granted Blue Origin a permit this past summer allowing the
: company to convert the property's two existing warehouse buildings
: into a 243,000-square-foot facility that will be used to design,
: manufacture and test aerospace vehicles and engines.
: Upon completion, Blue Origin's prototype launch vehicles will be
: transported to West Texas for further testing at a rocket launch
: site that Bezos plans to build near the town of Van Horn.
: The rocket launch site will be built on a five-square-mile portion
: of a sprawling 165,000-acre ranch that Bezos purchased, along with
: two other ranches just outside of town, said Larry Simpson, editor
: of the Van Horn Advocate, a community newspaper that published one
: of the only interviews Bezos has granted to date about Blue Origin.
: Unpiloted test flights of the launch vehicles could begin by either
: late 2006 or early 2007, depending on how long it will take to
: complete the initial prototypes, Simpson said. The launch vehicles
: are designed to carry three people at a time ``to the edge of
: space,'' he said.
: During an interview that lasted a little over a half-hour, Bezos
: discussed his plans to develop reusable suborbital launch vehicles
: that could carry passengers nearly into space, the couple said.
: Simpson said Bezos hoped to be able to begin offering commercial
: passenger flights within three to five years of the initial test
: launches, with the ultimate goal of helping humankind achieve space
: colonization ``in his lifetime.''
: The 41-year-old Bezos, who was born in Albuquerque, N.M., and spent
: a portion of his youth in Houston, has an estimated net worth of
: $4.8 billion. He founded Amazon.com, which has grown to become the
: world's largest online retailer, in 1994.
: Blue Origin officials also discussed their company's plans at two
: public meetings held in Van Horn this past spring and summer. Larry
: Simpson said area residents have welcomed the project with open
: arms.
: The company also has been warmly greeted by city officials and
: business leaders in Kent.
: ``We're obviously very excited that they're coming to Kent,'' said
: Nathan Torgelson, the city's economic development manager.
: Marcelle Pechler, executive director of the Kent Chamber of
: Commerce, said Blue Origin is a good fit for the city, which is
: already home to a number of other manufacturers, including Boeing,
: Flow International, Esterline's Hytek Finishes Co., and Oberto
: Sausage Co.
: The Kent chamber is looking into the possibility of creating a
: ``Center for Advanced Manufacturing'' to promote the Kent Valley as
: an industry hub for the region and to provide assistance to area
: manufacturers.
: ``We have the space, we have the infrastructure and the other
: businesses to support what they're doing,'' said Pechler. ``It's an
: appropriate home for them. ... Those space tourists may need some
: of those packaged beef sticks for their long journey.''
--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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