Blue Origin signs multiple Wichita companies to supply deals

Wichita Business Journal | Daniel McCoy

The burgeoning space industry has landed new manufacturing work in Wichita.

Blue Origin has signed four local shops to long-term supply deals, just months after the company’s CEO made his first trip to the Air Capital.

Deals have been made with Harlow Aerostructures Inc., Accurus Aerospace Wichita, C.E. Machine Company Inc. and Orizon Aerostructures LLC.

“The greater Wichita region has played a pioneering role in aerospace that dates back to Amelia Earhart, and with these agreements, that legacy continues into the second golden age of spaceflight," Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said in a press release. “We are thrilled for these manufacturers to join us as we write the next chapter of aerospace history.”

Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

The local companies will be helping provide components for Blue Origin’s engine programs and its New Glenn reusable launch vehicle.

“It is incredible to imagine that in the very near term, these products will play an intricate role in the advancement of commercializing space travel,” says Ryan Smith, director of business development at C.E. Machine. “We are thankful for the opportunity provided by Blue Origin’s leadership team and are looking forward to a long-lasting partnership for generations to come.”

The deals follow on the heels of Smith visiting Wichita to see the local supply base firsthand in July, with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and the Greater Wichita Partnership serving as his hosts.

“The partnership between four of our Kansas suppliers and Blue Origin further demonstrates Wichita’s title as the ‘Air Capital of the World,”’ Moran says. “Wichita is the future of flight, and we have the talent to prove it.”

Blue Origin, which Smith this summer said has grown five-fold in five years, in July launched its New Shepard rocket into space with passengers for the first time — including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also started the space company.