Blue Origin, the rocket company held by the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, would have dismissed nearly 1,400 employees, or around 10% of its workforce.
The job cuts signal a pivot for the space company, which said it wanted to cut the managerial ranks and concentrate its resources on the recovery launches of its new Glenn giant rocket.
The rocket finished its first test flight succeeded last month after long delays, marking an important step for the company.
Founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, Blue Origin was a key player in the private space race, but it is considered to be lagging behind competitors such as Elon Musk SpaceX.
In a service note about the cuts, the CEO Dave Limp said that although the company made significant progress, it was not structured for the type of success it hoped to reach.
Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The company has already seen an upheaval of leadership and exodus of the company’s senior executives.
Amazon’s veteran, Dave Limp took over after former boss Bob Smith resigned at the end of 2023.
With the launch of the new Glenn rocket, Blue Origin is moving away from research and pushes to increase production and obtain more commercial and government contracts for the heavy vehicle, which is designed for orbital missions.
