Blue Origin cuts 10% of staff one month after first successful New Glenn launch

Blue Origin is laying off 10% of its workforce, according to Reuters, just one month after the successful first launch of its New Glenn mega-rocket. The company reportedly has more than 10,000 employees, meaning the cut could affect around 1,000 people.

CEO Dave Limp told employees in an all-hands meeting Thursday morning the company is not “set up for the kind of success that we really wanted to have,” which he said was a “painful conclusion,” according to Reuters reporter Joey Roulette. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Limp took over as Blue Origin CEO in 2023, after running Amazon’s devices and services division for more than a decade. Prior to Limp taking over that role, Blue Origin — and the New Glenn program in particular — was moving slowly and was beset with delays, all while SpaceX gobbled up the market for launching things and people into space.