Jeff Bezos is rooting for India's Chandrayaan 2 to reach the Moon safe and sound

• Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Amazon, has wished India 'good luck' as Chandrayaan 2 attempts to land on the Moon tonight.
• Vikram, Chandrayaan 2's lander, is scheduled to soft land on the moon between 1:30am and 2:30am Indian Standard Time (IST) on 7 September, 2019.
• Bezos' plans for outer space include setting up an outpost on the Moon to mine for resources that will eventually build a bigger colony.

The world is watching Chandrayaan 2 as it makes it landing near the Moon's South Pole. And so is one of the world’s richest men, Jess Bezos — the founder of Amazon and his own space company, Blue Origin.

And, he’s rooting for India to reach the Moon safe and sound.


Chandrayaan 2’s lander, Vikram, is scheduled to touch down near the Moon’s Pole between 1:30am and 2:30am tonight.

The primary objective of India’s second mission to the Moon is to build on Chandrayaan 1’s discovery of water.

The three modules of Chandrayaan 2 — the orbiter, the rover called Pragyaan and the lander called Vikram — are going to be looking of icy deposits that may have abundant quantities of water.

Why does Bezos care?

Blue Origin has ambitious plans for space and more. It plans plans to build habitats for humans in space, which starts with building an outpost on the Moon.

Bezos’ plan includes mining the Moon for resources through an outpost, to build large scale habitats around it.

It hence comes as no surprise that he is watching what Chandrayaan 2 can do for India and the world.

If Chandrayaan 2 is able to find water or the abundance of metals under the Moon, it would boost Bezos plans to mine for resources.

Bezos also unveiled Blue Origin’s plans to build its own lunar lander — the Blue Moon.

The Blue Moon is designed to be an ordinary lander either. The insect-like module plans to deploy multiple tiny satellites to place them in orbit around the Moon to collect data. Bezos did not disclose when he plans to launch the lander but stated that engine designs would begin this summer.

Blue Origin is fairly secretive about what its upto. Bezos funnels nearly $1 billion into the company each year, normally by selling off Amazon stock.

See also:
Where and how to watch Chandrayaan 2’s Moon landing live tonight

Everything you need to know about Vikram, Chandrayaan 2's lander, as it lands on the Moon

Here's why Chandrayaan 2's soft landing on the Moon will be the '15 most terrifying minutes' for ISRO