Blue Origin and Sierra Space's Orbital Reef space station partnership in jeopardy

Blue Origin and Sierra Space are navigating a potential end to their partnership on the Orbital Reef space station project, according to sources who spoke to CNBC1. The companies announced Orbital Reef as a co-led project in 2021, but updates about the project dried up in the past year1. Shortly after unveiling the project, Blue Origin won a $130 million contract from NASA for design work on the private space station1. The Orbital Reef team, including Amazon Supply Chain, Amazon Web Services, Arizona State University, Boeing, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Redwire Space, successfully completed its System Definition Review with NASA in August 20222. The review established the functional baseline for Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned, and operated space station to be built in low-Earth orbit2. The station is designed to open multiple new markets in space and provide anyone with the opportunity to establish their own address on orbit3.

Key facts:

• Blue Origin and Sierra Space's Orbital Reef space station partnership is in jeopardy, according to sources who spoke to CNBC1.
• The companies announced Orbital Reef as a co-led project in 2021, but updates about the project dried up in the past year1.
• Shortly after unveiling the project, Blue Origin won a $130 million contract from NASA for design work on the private space station1.
• The Orbital Reef team, including Amazon Supply Chain, Amazon Web Services, Arizona State University, Boeing, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Redwire Space, successfully completed its System Definition Review with NASA in August 20222.
• The review established the functional baseline for Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned, and operated space station to be built in low-Earth orbit2.