Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people ever and founder of the category-killing online business Amazon, said he will hand over the CEO title to Andy Jasse and become executive chairman of the business behemoth.

After a spat with the FAA over an incomplete safety assessment prior to a previous Starship test, SpaceX launched another Starship upper-stage prototype from Boca Chica Beach, Texas, on Feb. 2, reaching an altitude of 32,800 ft. (10 km) and demonstrating flight control during subsonic re-entry before the vehicle crashed at landing.

The founder and CEO of e-commerce platform Shift4 Payments is chartering a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight for himself and three passengers, part of a fundraiser and public outreach for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a business opportunity for a Shift4 entrepreneur.

Virgin Galactic is targeting Feb. 13 for the next flight test of SpaceShipTwo, the six-passenger, two-pilot spacecraft designed for privately operated, suborbital flight services.

Rocket startup BluShift Aerospace launched its inaugural commercial mission Jan. 31, claiming the titles of the first commercial launch of a rocket with a “bio-derived” fuel and the first commercial launch from Maine.

Space Force Cancels Blue Origin, Northrop LSA Contracts Irene Klotz, [email protected]  As expected, Blue Origin and Northrup Grumman—losing contenders in the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Phase 2 procurement—have had their precursor Launch Service Agreements canceled, the Space and Missile Systems Center confirmed on Jan. 29.

ArianeGroup is gearing up for the hot-fire testing campaign of the first complete Ariane 6 upper stage, after it left the assembly and functional evaluation facility in Bremen, Germany.

Joining former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Israeli entrepreneur Eytan Stibbe on the first privately financed U.S. mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will be real estate and technology investor Larry Connor of Ohio and Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Pathy, Axiom Space said on Jan. 26.