Jeff Bezos unveils a model of Blue Origin's "Blue Moon" lunar lander on May 9, 2019, in Washington DC.
- Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, unveiled a life-size model of a new moon lander on Thursday for his rocket company, Blue Origin.
- Called "Blue Moon," the vehicle is designed to deliver a variety of types of payloads to the moon's surface - potentially even astronauts.
- Here's what Blue Moon looks like and what Bezos says it will do.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
WASHINGTON, DC - Jeff Bezos just unveiled a giant lunar-landing vehicle created by his rocket company Blue Origin.
The Blue Moon lander, as it's called, is designed to be a flexible vehicle that can deliver a variety of payloads to the moon's surface - perhaps one day even astronauts. The eventual goal, the company says, is to help establish "sustained human presence" on the moon.
"This is an incredible vehicle, and it's going to the moon," Bezos said at an event in Washington, DC, on Thursday afternoon.
Bezos added that Blue Origin has been developing Blue Moon over the last three years. (The company had been teasing the idea of such a lunar lander for about two years.)
The model of the Blue Moon lander that Bezos revealed is the version designed to carry infrastructure payloads to the moon. That could include small rovers, supplies, tools, and other equipment. In the future, though, Bezos said a more powerful variant of Blue Moon could drop off a crewed ascent module.
According to the company's website, this larger variant of Blue Moon "has been designed to land an ascent vehicle that will allow us to return Americans to the moon by 2024." But a vehicle designed for people was not shown at the event.
Here's how the Blue Moon lander is slated to look, and what it might achieve.