Dave Limp Succeeds Current CEO of Blue Origin Bob Smith

Bob Smith, who has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Blue Origin, has announced his resignation from the company, effective in December. He will be succeeded by Dave Limp, a senior executive from Amazon who had been overseeing the development of the Project Kuiper constellation.

According to an email sent to Blue Origin employees on September 25, Smith revealed his plan to step down from the CEO position on December 4 after leading the company for six years. He mentioned that he would continue to be part of the company until early January to facilitate a smooth transition to his successor.

In his email, Smith expressed his pride and satisfaction for the achievements of Blue Origin during his tenure. He highlighted the company’s significant growth, evolving from its roots in prototyping and research into a prominent player in the space industry. He emphasized the company’s robust strategy, talented team, strong customer base, and ambitious projects.

Under Smith’s leadership, Blue Origin’s workforce expanded from fewer than 1,000 employees to over 10,000. The company achieved milestones such as the development and commencement of commercial flights for the New Shepard suborbital vehicle. Additionally, they continued to work on the New Glenn orbital launch vehicle and the BE-4 engine, used by both New Glenn and the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Blue Origin also secured a NASA award in May to develop the crewed lunar lander, Blue Moon, as part of the Artemis lunar exploration campaign.

Despite these accomplishments, Blue Origin faced the perception that it was trailing behind SpaceX, which had conducted 68 orbital launches that year. New Glenn had experienced delays, although Blue Origin had plans for multiple launches of the vehicle in 2024. Furthermore, New Shepard had been grounded since a September 2022 flight due to an engine failure.

Smith acknowledged the company’s financial progress, noting that they had grown from having very little revenue to generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and securing billions of dollars in orders.

However, there were signs of slowing growth, with reports of layoffs among recruiters in early September. These layoffs were attributed to a decrease in the pace of hiring, not an overall reduction in the workforce.

Smith mentioned that his planned departure had been discussed with Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, for several months, and Bezos would make a separate announcement regarding his successor. Bezos praised Smith for his leadership and credited him with growing Blue Origin’s sales orders to several billion dollars and building a substantial backlog for their vehicles and engines.

Bezos expressed confidence in Limp, stating that he was the right leader for Blue Origin at this juncture. He emphasized Limp’s innovation, customer-centric approach, and experience in leading and scaling large, complex organizations.

A spokesperson for Blue Origin highlighted Limp’s extensive experience in the high-tech industry and his ability to manage highly complex organizations.

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