SpaceX vs Blue Origin: the numbers side by side
Every key figure in one table (launches, reusability, payload, constellations, crew, NASA contracts, funding and valuation), with the money figures pulled live.
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| Metric | SpaceX | Blue Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 | 2000 |
| Founder | Elon Musk | Jeff Bezos |
| Headquarters | Hawthorne, CA | Kent, WA |
| Employees | ~13,000 | ~10,000 |
| Total Funding | ~$100.4B | ~$13.0B (mostly Bezos) |
| Valuation | ~$1.96T market cap (NASDAQ: SPCX) | Private (est. $130.0B) |
| Primary Vehicle | Falcon 9 / Starship | New Glenn / New Shepard |
| Orbital Launches (Career) | 690+ (Falcon 9 680 + Falcon Heavy 13, Aug 2026) | 3 New Glenn flights: 2 successes (Jan & Nov 2025), 1 failure (Apr 2026) |
| Reusability | Falcon 9 booster (400+ landings, 20+ flights on a single booster) | New Glenn booster landed on NG-2 (Nov 2025) and landed again after reflying on NG-3 (Apr 2026); New Shepard routinely reused |
| LEO Payload Capacity | 22,800 kg (F9) / 100+ t (Starship design figure, fully reusable; in flight testing) | 45,000 kg (New Glenn) |
| Constellation | Starlink (9,000+ sats in orbit) | Amazon Leo (formerly Kuiper): 3,236 planned, deployment under way, launching on Atlas V, Vulcan, Falcon 9 and New Glenn |
| Crewed Missions | Crew Dragon (12+ missions) | New Shepard (6 crewed flights) |
| NASA Contracts | HLS, CRS, Crew, Mars | Artemis sustaining lander |
| Revenue Model | Launch services + Starlink (the majority of revenue) | Launch services, BE-4 engines (sold to ULA for Vulcan), Amazon Leo launches, Blue Moon lander |
| Public/Private | Public (NASDAQ: SPCX, IPO June 2026) | Private |
Figures as of Sep 4, 2026 (auto-updated daily from company profiles).
Key Differences
SpaceX leads in operational scale with 690+ orbital launches and a Starlink constellation generating well over $10 billion a year. Blue Origin, despite being founded two years earlier, reached orbit for the first time with New Glenn in January 2025, landed a booster on its second flight that November, and on its third flight in April 2026 reflew that booster but left its payload in the wrong orbit: a normal early-programme record, but one that leaves it years behind on cadence. Its bet is long-horizon: BE-4 engines power ULA's Vulcan as well as New Glenn, and the Blue Moon lander anchors its NASA Artemis role.
SpaceX's Starship is the largest launch vehicle ever built, still in flight testing (its first planned orbital flight is targeted for no earlier than September 28, 2026, pending FAA approval), while Blue Origin's New Glenn targets the commercial and government launch market as a heavy-lift competitor to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. Both are tied to LEO broadband constellations: SpaceX owns Starlink outright, while Blue Origin is one of several launchers for Amazon's Leo constellation (formerly Project Kuiper), a sister company rather than a subsidiary.
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