Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin has been awarded the 2016 Robert J. Collier Trophy for “successfully demonstrating rocket booster reusability with the New Shepard human spaceflight vehicle through five successful test flights of a single booster and engine, all of which performed powered vertical landings on Earth,” the NAA said.
CEO Bezos and company join a who’s who of aviation and space pioneers in winning the trophy, including Orville Wright, Glenn Curtiss and SpaceShipOne.
The Collier Trophy is awarded annually to mark the year’s greatest achievement in U.S. aeronautics or astronautics. New Shepard and Blue Origin have also won the Heinlein Prize, Goddard Memorial Trophy and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, among other honors.
Blue Origin is another shining example of Washington’s emerging leadership in commercialized space, joining other companies such as Planetary Resources, Aerojet and Space X to create new ideas and innovations that lower the cost of space and expand our reach to the stars.
Learn more about Blue Origin’s award and learn more about Washington State’s space cluster.