--- title: "Michio Kaku: SpaceX Is Absolutely Destroying Blue Origin" description: "Famed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku argued that it's not even close. \"SpaceX has a tremendous lead over Blue Origin,\" he told Fox Business." date: "2021-10-14" modified: "2021-10-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/michio-kaku-spacex-beating-blue-origin" categories: - "Blue Origin" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "blue origin" - "michio kaku" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Michio Kaku: SpaceX Is Absolutely Destroying Blue Origin ![Famed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku argued that it's not even close. "SpaceX has a tremendous lead over Blue Origin," he told Fox Business.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Bury the Lead It's no secret that SpaceX is several steps ahead of its competition — to put it lightly. The Elon Musk-led company has sent [multiple crews]() of astronauts into orbit, and is [making significant progress]() on developing a heavy launch vehicle capable of sending the first humans in decades to the surface of the Moon. Blue Origin, in contrast, has only sent [two crews]() of tourists to an altitude of just several miles above the Karman line, the internationally agreed-upon boundary of space at 62 miles. And that kind of significant head start hasn't gone unnoticed. "It's not head-to-head like the media would like to portray, you know, the battle of the billionaires," famed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku [told *Fox Business* ]()during a televised interview today. "SpaceX has a tremendous lead over Blue Origin." "They've been around the Earth several times, they go to the space station," he continued. "In fact, the last launch that they had went even past the Hubble Space Telescope; that's how far it went into outer space." ## Going Orbital Kaku was referring to [Inspiration4](), the first all-tourist mission to orbit, which saw four passengers [spend three days]() circling the Earth inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The capsule was orbiting the planet at an altitude of 366 miles, higher than the International Space Station, Hubble, and "honestly higher than any humans other than those who went to the Moon," as Andy Tran, a SpaceX production supervisor, [told *The New York Times*]() last month. Blue Origin's two flights, however, [didn't go nearly as far](), reaching the only outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere and nowhere near orbit. Earlier today, the company [sent "Star Trek" actor William Shatner]() to the far reaches of our planet's atmosphere as part of the company's latest launch. "So none of this, going up for three minutes and coming back down," Kaku remarked. "No, we're talking about the Moon now." **READ MORE:** [SpaceX has ‘tremendous lead’ over Blue Origin, top physicist says]() \[*Fox Business*\] ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()