
Discussions about future launch plans for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture have reportedly generated internal acrimony due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak — and that, in turn, has generated reassurances about safety.
The acrimony is laid out in a report from The Verge, based on accounts from unnamed employees as well as an audio recording of a staff meeting at the company’s headquarters in Kent, Wash.
Employees reportedly worried that plans for a test flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spaceflight could put them at risk, because the operation would involve traveling to the company’s West Texas launch facility.