Question 1

True or false: Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

Accepted Answer

True. New Shepard honors Alan Shepard’s historic 1961 Mercury flight. Blue Origin also carries a replica of his capsule on some missions.

Question 2

True or false: Blue Origin manufactures its rocket engines at a facility in Van Horn, Texas.

Accepted Answer

False. Engines are built at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Washington. Van Horn, Texas, is the launch site for New Shepard.

Question 3

True or false: Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is designed to be partially reusable like the Falcon 9.

Accepted Answer

True. New Glenn’s first stage is reusable, landing on a barge, similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, though it has yet to fly.

Question 4

True or false: Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, two years before SpaceX.

Accepted Answer

True. Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, while Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, making Blue Origin the older private space company.

Question 5

True or false: Blue Origin has successfully landed a rocket on a drone ship in the ocean like SpaceX.

Accepted Answer

False. Blue Origin lands New Shepard vertically on land, not on a drone ship. They have no operational ocean landing system yet.

Question 6

True or false: Blue Origin was the first private company to send a spacecraft into orbit.

Accepted Answer

False. SpaceX’s Falcon 1 reached orbit in 2008. Blue Origin has yet to reach orbit; New Shepard is suborbital.

Question 7

True or false: Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine is used exclusively on their own rockets and never sold to other companies.

Accepted Answer

False. BE-4 engines power United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket too, making them a key supplier for a competitor.

Question 8

True or false: Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight in 2021 carried the youngest person to ever fly to space.

Accepted Answer

True. 18-year-old Oliver Daemen flew on NS-18 in 2021, becoming the youngest space traveler at that time.

Blue Origin Trivia Questions