In search of conquering space, billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are fighting a relentless battle full of low blows.
On Monday night, Elon Musk published a particularly suggestive and sexually suggestive tweet about a project by Jeff Bezos to develop a moon landing device for NASA, which ended up choosing SpaceX, Musk’s space division.
“It’s more than a battle for space,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at the company. “It is a battle of egos”.
It is “something personal” between the two men, who started their space companies in the early 2000s, and are at the top of the ranking of great fortunes.
Jeff Bezos, 57, is the richest man in the world with $ 202 billion, while Elon Musk, 48, owner of Tesla and SpaceX, ranks third with $ 167 billion, according to Forbes.
The development of space projects takes place through successful public contracts, mainly proposed by NASA and the United States Armed Forces, which allows these companies to have considerable budgets to develop programs for commercial purposes.
In that respect, Elon Musk has a clear advantage today. SpaceX, with its Starlink network, has placed hundreds of satellites in orbit with its own equipment. Jeff Bezos, who plans to invest $ 10 billion in his constellation of Kuiper satellites, has yet to launch any satellites after suffering delays in the development of his first rocket.
Microsoft’s Azure division, a remote computing specialist, joined SpaceX in late 2020 on a $ 10 billion project after a Pentagon bid won against Amazon, the giant founded by Bezos.
SpaceX “has acquired a certain degree of trust with NASA,” notes Xavier Pasco, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research.
Thus, Elon Musk’s company guarantees regular supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) since 2012, and transports astronauts from NASA and other agencies.
Courts
“The simple fact that SpaceX is certified to send astronauts is a very important step,” says Pasco.
“Blue Origin (a company founded by Bezos) does not have this confidence, as it is not operational”, continues the expert. This infuriates Bezos, forced to question several decisions in court.
In addition to the battle of egos, there is also the financial battle.
“Bezos and Musk know that the winner of the next space battle will be crowned in a year or two,” says Dan Ives. And the financial return on this huge market will really start in 15 to 20 years and can reach several hundred billion dollars, he explains.
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