With New Glenn Rocket a Success, Blue Origin's Next Step Is to Build a $100 Billion Orbital Reef

The International Space Station (ISS) has given America a home in space for the last 27 years. Sometime after 2030, though, America plans to lock the doors on ISS, hand in the keys, and send it plunging into the sea. But this won't be the end of America's orbital adventures. Long before ISS takes its swan dive, U.S. companies should have one (or several) private space stations in orbit, performing the same functions that ISS performs today...plus some entirely new ones.

At last report, we still had four separate entities in the running to build space stations to replace ISS. Two of these, Vast Space and Axiom Space, are privately held companies operating solo. Two more, though, are teams of companies -- including publicly traded companies -- that we can invest in:

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• Voyager Space, recently renamed Voyager Technologies, has teamed up with Airbus (OTC: EADSY), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT), and others to build a "Starlab" space station.
• Blue Origin, is allied with Sierra Space, Boeing (NYSE: BA), and Redwire (NYSE: RDW) on a competing project to build an "Orbital Reef" space station.

It's the Orbital Reef space station I'll be talking about today.

Image source: Blue Origin.

Jeff Bezos has big plans for Orbital Reef

Building the International Space Station cost $100 billion, and as Dailygalaxy.com (DG) reported last week, building the Orbital Reef space station to replace it won't come much cheaper. Apparently, Blue Origin founder billionaire Jeff Bezos expects his team to spend $100 billion building Orbital Reef, as well.

In contrast to the somewhat cobbled-together and utilitarian ISS, however, DG describes Bezos' Orbital Reef project as "unique," "breathtaking," and "extravagant."

In contrast to the work-focused ISS, you see, Bezos wants Orbital Reef to contain multitudes. Comprising both "advanced research facilities" and also "luxurious living quarters" and "social spaces," Bezos envisions Orbital Reef getting much of its revenue from "high-end tourism." Right from the start, the station will have room to house 10 upper-income guests. If the demand supports it, the station's tourist population can grow with the addition of new modules to house them.

Bezos loves it when a plan comes together

Is there a market for this kind of space service, though? There may be, and if there is, Bezos is arguably the person best placed to (1) know the market exists and (2) profit from it.

The same Blue Origin that is spearheading Orbital Reef, after all, is also the most popular space tourism company on Earth. It's biggest rival in this space (pardon the pun) is Virgin Galactic, which has been grounded since retiring its Unity spaceplane in June 2024. It won't be operational again until 2026. Rival SpaceX does operate a limited space tourism business but so far at least mostly offers rocket rides on its own Falcon 9 spacecraft and Dragon capsules. To date, SpaceX has not announced any plans to build a space station of its own.

Blue Origin, meanwhile, has launched tourists to the edge of space nine times already, using its New Shepard suborbital rockets. The company successfully test-flew its first orbital-class rocket, the New Glenn, earlier this month.

This is important for two reasons. First, it means Blue Origin now has a rocket capable of sending entire modules to space from which to construct its space station. Second, it gives Blue Origin a rocket that -- over time -- may be able to prove itself safe enough for human travel, giving the company a way to get space tourists to a space station without needing to hire transport services from SpaceX.

When will we see an Orbital Reef space station in service?

Granted, we're probably still a few years away from seeing either of these things happen. New Glenn's first dozen or more launches will almost certainly be devoted to building Project Kuiper for Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), in which Bezos remains a major shareholder.

There's also the question of money. To date, NASA has committed only $172 million in financial support toward building Orbital Reef. Assuming the station's $100 billion price tag is accurate, that's $172 million down, $99.828 billion to go. Still, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Bezos owns 8.65% of Amazon's stock, a stake worth more than $213 billion in total. All on his own, Bezos could get this thing done if he wants to. He also has Sierra Space, Boeing, and Redwire to help foot the bill. And, as the project progresses, there's a good chance Bezos will open up Orbital Reef to even wider investment in the form of an initial public offering (IPO) of the stock.

Would you invest in IPO Orbital Reef?

It's time to start thinking about that question now, because ISS is going away -- and Orbital Reef is coming.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.