Who are Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos?
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, two
billionaires with deep pockets thriving businesses and sky-high ambitions,
Bezos is king of E-Commerce while Musk – a titan of technology. The pair has
crossed paths more times than I’m sure they would like igniting a few laced with
jet fuel that really started to heat up. Despite Bezos and Musk rising up
through two completely different industries, their interest eventually clash
triggering what we like to consider the new era space race. You see Jeff Bezos
is CEO and founder of Blue origin, an innovative aerospace manufacturer that’s
striving to make space exploration cheaper on the other hand Elon Musk is CEO
and founder of SpaceX, an innovative aerospace manufacturer that’s also
striving to make space exploration cheaper.
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Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon ,Image Credit : Wikipedia |
I’m sure you can see why this is causing some
friction but it hasn’t always been Musk in red corner Bezos in the blue, in
fact they even shared dinner together in 2004 to discuss about their pioneering
space endeavors. When both aerospace companies were in their infancy the pair
didn’t have all that much to measure up against. Bezos started Blue origin in
2000 and Musk got SpaceX off ground in 2002, however it wasn’t until many years
later either would actually launch something resembling a rocket while both companies
threw some weight around in the same industry for over a decade. The clash only
started to gain some real momentum in 2013 when NASA decided to launch site
complex 39A. The 39A pad served as the starting point for countless space
missions spanning as far back as the 1960s including infamous Apollo 11 in
1969.
Why they are clashing?
After NASA retired its shuttle
fleet in 2011 they decided it was time to hand the facilities management over
to a private company saving taxpayers around $100000 a month upkeep costs
alone, so when tried and tested launch facility came up for grabs in 2013
complete with NASA built infrastructure both men obviously wanted to take the
advantage of opportunity. Musk proposed using the facility to launch SpaceX
Falcon - 9 rockets and eventually the Falcon heavy rocket that was still yet to
be built. SpaceX was already launching the Falcon – 9 from a nearby pad for
satellite missions and taxing cargo to the international space station. The
proposal also hinted at future launches carrying NASA astronaut to the station
as well. While Musk intended to use the launch site mostly for SpaceX endeavors,
Bezos and Blue Origin took different approach. Blue Origin proposed managing
39A as a multiuser facility saying that they would offer pad to other rocket
companies to use while they work towards making use of it at a later date.
Essentially Bezos wanted to rent to rent and Musk was all ready to go tilting
the scales in his favor, feeling a little behind Musk really squeezed Bezos his
inner lemon so in a bitter response he partnered up with the united launch
alliance to file a formal protest with the government to void Musk’s
application. They pleaded that Musk’s plan to use the launch site exclusively
for SpaceX were unfair after all sharing is caring. Musk dubbed it a load of
Bezos and a phony blocking stating that SpaceX was open to sharing the site
with NASA and other private companies if necessary. After a few back and forth
NASA eventually moved forward into negotiations, finalizing a deal with Musk
coming into 2014 leaving Bezos out of the picture entirely. So it was one to
nil in Musk’s favor but this was beginning and less than a year later the two
were firing shots once again.
Bezos had previously filed
patents for technology to build reusable rockets that land on a sea going
platform, the kind that can take off and land multiple times in its usable
life, a key component for making space travel more comfortable. Despite SpaceX
being the industry leader and already testing a number of small takeoff and
landing rockets if or when they succeeded in making one operational they would
be forced to pay Bezos and Blue Origin settlement litigation or licensing fees.
Musk being a big player didn’t fancy the idea of shelling out cash to his
competitor so disputed the patent profusely stating that the idea of launching
a rocket and landing it vertically is old one. Musk even mustered up some old
sci-fi footage that showed space rockets landing on boats explaining that the Blue Origin patents were
a demonstration of old ideas and repeated technologies. Musk continued to fight
his corner and on September 1st, 2015, he reigned victorious when
all 15 points of Bezos’s patents were finally cancelled.
Feud In Public

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Clash will continue
The Bezos and Musk feud has
spanned over decades sometimes serious sometimes harmless, however things are
inevitably going to start escalating. Both men are incredibly powerful and they
certainly have the capital to back it up. Now the pair shares not only the space exploration sector but also the internet
and self driving car sector. They could start clashing heads ever more
frequently believe or not this is potentially great news for all of us and not just
on entertainment front competition of this caliber means progress and urgency. With
Bezos pushing Musk and Musk pushing Bezos these new emerging technologies will
likely get to us sooner. Let’s hope one doesn’t bankrupt the other in the
process.
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