Blue Origin: All you need to know about Jeff Bezos's next pursuit

Bezos's space company, Blue Origin, is currently testing rocket systems as well as a moon lander called Blue Moon with a first mission planned in 2024

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down as the CEO but he has made it clear that the move "isn't about retiring". So what lies ahead for the world's richest man?

Bill Gates set out to heal the world. His Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought sports teams. Ted Turner raced yachts. And Donald Trump went into politics. But Bezos plans to build rockets and make access to space cheaper with reusable launch vehicles.

Also read: Amazon's Jeff Bezos, latest tycoon to pursue his 'passion'

Bezos announced on February 2 that he was resigning as Chief Executive Officer of the online retail giant he launched 27 years ago. He said he would remain executive chairman of Amazon but would devote more time to "passions" such as his private space firm Blue Origin and the Bezos Earth Fund.

Here's all you need to know about 'Blue Origin':

1. Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in the year 2000, headquartered in Kent, Washington.

2. Most funds to the company come from Bezos, who said in 2017 he would sell $1 billion worth of his Amazon.com Inc stock every year to fund the company. Total funding and valuation have not been publicly disclosed.

3. Blue Origin, whose Latin motto means "step by step, ferociously," is working towards making civilian space flight an important niche in the global space economy, alongside satellite services and government exploration projects.

Also see: In Pics | What next for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos?

4. Blue Origin, yet to launch anything into orbit, has launched and landed its suborbital rocket, New Shepard, more than a dozen times. It aims to complete the development of its much bigger workhorse orbital rocket, New Glenn, by this year.

5. Blue Origin's Blue Moon lunar-Lander project was awarded $579 million in April 2020 by NASA.

6. Blue Origin is currently testing its New Shepard booster and capsule spaceship that aims to take space tourists aboard by April this year.

Space Race: Bezos vs Musk

Bezos is not the only tycoon who has expanded his sights beyond Earth's orbit. Richard Branson, 70, founder of the Virgin Group, also has a spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic, and is seeking to make space tourism affordable.

Both Bezos and Branson, however, have been left in the dust when it comes to space by another billionaire -- South African-born Elon Musk, the world's second-richest man.

Musk, 49, made his first major fortune when PayPal was sold to eBay in 2002 and went on to launch the electric car company Tesla and solar power company SolarCity. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX.

Also read: Space Race: The sport of choice for billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk

It has since become the world's leading private rocket launch company, sending commercial satellites into space and delivering cargo to the International Space Station.

SpaceX became the first private company to launch humans into space last year when it sent two astronauts to the ISS.

Two of the richest men in the world, Bezos and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have invested billions of dollars over the years to make inroads in this market. Blue Origin and SpaceX mainly aim to send satellites for clients into orbit at an affordable price and reuse parts of rockets to keep costs in check.

(With agency inputs)