Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, is reportedly raising private capital for the first time in its history, according to the DealBook newsletter. The firm is said to be seeking $10 billion at a valuation of $130 billion, marking a significant shift for a company that has until now been funded almost entirely by Bezos himself. The move matters because it signals a new strategy to compete financially with rival SpaceX, and to fund Blue Origin's expanding ambitions in launch, telecommunications and space-based data centres.

Of the $10 billion, asset manager Coatue Management is expected to lead with $4 billion, a further $4 billion is anticipated from large institutional investors, and Bezos will add $2 billion himself. The figures are far smaller than the $85 billion SpaceX raised through its recent flotation, which carries a valuation of roughly $2 trillion. The fundraising follows a late-May setback when Blue Origin's flagship New Glenn rocket exploded in Florida, destroying its only launch pad; Bezos, now 62, is said to have grown weary of self-funding the firm, which is also pursuing two megaconstellation projects, TeraWave and Project Sunrise, alongside lunar landers for NASA and commercial customers.