Member-only story
Step by Step, Ferociously
Gradatim Ferociter, or, “step by step, ferociously”, has long been the motto of Blue Origin, a rocketry company founded and funded by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos. His patient and understated approach has led to some remarkable achievements, and stands in stark contrast to the fast-moving and loudly ambitious ways of much of the rest of the NewSpace community. Now Bezos has outlined a long term vision for the future of humanity in space, one that is measured in centuries rather than decades. Can he, and Blue Origin, really succeed at launching a new industrial revolution in space?
Although a steady and incremental approach to space exploration might seem to make sense, the history of man’s efforts to reach out into the stars is littered with attempts to do the opposite. The Apollo programme, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station — all of these big and expensive missions stand alone. After going to the Moon, no one ever went back, and the mighty rockets used to reach the Moon were decommissioned and placed in museums. The Shuttle program that followed did not build on Apollo, and eventually the Space Shuttles too were consigned to museums, and followed, so far, by a long reliance on the age-old Russian Soyuz rocket.
NASA is now considering returning to the Moon — but again their approach necessitates construction of massively expensive rockets and lunar…
