WSJ What’s News - How Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Is Taking on SpaceX in the Race to the Moon

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

P.M. Edition for Dec. 2. Blue Origin is gaining momentum in its quest to land astronauts on the moon. WSJ’s Micah Maidenberg discusses the company’s challenge to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defends the September strike that killed survivors of an initial attack on the alleged drug boat, but says he didn’t see the second strike. Plus, Michael Dell and his wife Susan Dell donate $6.25 billion to expand the Trump administration’s plan to provide savings accounts for young children. Sabrina Siddiqui hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he didn't see the second strike on a suspected drugboat that killed survivors, but defends the operation. Plus, Michael and Susan Dell are donating more than $6 billion to grow the Trump administration's plans for children's savings accounts. And how Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is building momentum in the new U.S. space race. Blue Origin and SpaceX both have contracts right now. to deliver NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, and they're both trying to figure out faster ways to do it. It's Tuesday, December 2nd. I'm Sabrina Siddiqui for the Wall Street Journal,

filling in for Alex Osala. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Defense Secretary Pete Hegsteth today defended the September strikes on a suspected drug trafficking boat that has drawn criticism. Lawmakers and many law of war experts have argued that targeting helpless individuals in a shipwreck amounts to a war crime. Speaking at a cabinet meeting,

Hegeseth said he watched the September 2nd operation live, but then left the room ahead of a second strike, which killed two survivors of a first strike. He says he learned of the second attack an hour or two later. He praised the top military commander, Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley, for making the quote, correct decision to destroy the boat. He sunk the boat, sunk the boat, and eliminated the threat. And it was the right call. We have his back. And the American people are safer.

Speaking before Hegeseth, President Trump said he had not been briefed on the second strike, but that he relies on Hegsef to update him on such situations and that the defense secretary was doing a good job. And President Vladimir Putin says Russia is ready to go to war with Europe if attacked and accused the European leaders of trying to sabotage. peace efforts through proposed changes to a U.S. peace plan for Ukraine. The Russian leader is trying to deepen divides in the transatlantic alliance. A senior NATO official says the alliance is united and dismissed Putin's comments.

Putin spoke at an investment forum today in Moscow before a meeting with Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner over the newest U.S. peace proposal. European and Ukrainian officials had objected to an earlier 28-point plan saying it was too favorable to Russia. Ukrainian president Volodomir Zelensky says he's waiting to hear what comes out of the Moscow talks and that robust security guarantees and questions about control of Ukrainian territory remain central issues. And in the U.S., Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to expand a government program that will provide savings accounts for children.

The government's program gives children $1,000 for what are called Trump accounts. The Dell say they want to fill the gap for millions of children. who weren't eligible for the investment accounts and provide $250 per child. Their gift is the latest example of a corporate leader donating to one of the president's projects. Others have given money for a White House ballroom, Trump's inaugural events, or a presidential library. Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, is taking on Elon Musk's SpaceX,

pushing to get humans to the moon first. The company is planning more orbital missions, including an early 2026 cargo flight to the moon as it challenges space X dominance in rocket satellites and flying crews into space. Blue Origin is making those moves after completing a flight last month with its rocket New Glenn. It was able to land the New Glenn booster for the first time during that mission, which should help the company operate more flights. A bigger, more powerful version of New Glenn is also in the works. Micah Maidenberg, a Wall Street Journal reporter covering the business of space, joins us now with more.

Micah, Blue Origin itself acknowledges having a reputation of moving slower. What's changing as it competes with Space X in the new race to the moon? Blue Origin did have this reputation. They once used a tortoise on their logo. You know, slow and steady wins the race, that kind of thing. So a couple of years ago, Jeff Bezos brought on a new CEO to run the company. somebody he worked with for many years at Amazon named Dave Limp. And, you know, Limp has really tried and seen it as his mandate to get the company to move faster.

And New Klan is a huge part of the company's plans for space, including getting folks back to the moon, towards the end of 2028. And what are Blue Origins plans for the moon? And why is it so important to the company as a symbol of its success? The company has a few things going on with the moon. A couple of years ago, it was hired by NASA to develop a lunar lander that could take cruise down to the surface of the moon as part of NASA's broader human exploration program called Artemis. So it's working on that lander and developing that for a flight a few years from now. Bezos has talked about a future where lots of people are living and working in space. And Blue Origin is invested in some really interesting technologies to try to turn, for example, moon dust.

the stuff called Regolith on the lunar surface into usable resources that astronauts or potentially like robotic missions could tap into. The idea there is you live off the land, you don't have to transport stuff out to the moon because you can make it on the surface. And we've talked about Blue Origins plans. What does SpaceX have to say about it all? So SpaceX is developing a human landing system based on its starship spacecraft. And SpaceX says its starship lander is still the fastest way to get Americans back on the lunar surface. Blue Origin and SpaceX both have contracts right now to deliver NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, and they're both trying to figure out faster ways to do it. That was the Wall Street Journal's Micah Maidenberg. Thank you, Micah.

Thank you. Coming up, why San Francisco's mayor has been filming TikToks around the city. That's after the break. A man accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other gun charges today. Rahmanullah Lackenwal, who was also shot during last week's attack, appeared in court virtually from his hospital bed. An Afghan national who was granted asylum in the U.S. in April, Lackenwal said little while entering his plea through a public defender.

He was ordered detained without bail. officials have said they are investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. In U.S. markets today, the NASDAQ led the three major indexes higher, closing up 0.6%. But shares of food companies slid after San Francisco sued Kraft Hines, General Mills, and nine other food manufacturers blaming them for Americans' ultra-processed diets and saying the companies knowingly made and marketed harmful foods. Kraft Hines and General Mills didn't respond to requests for comment. And Bitcoin bounced back a bit after a big sell-off, climbing above $90,000.

In tech news, Amazon Web Services today announced the public launch of its Traynium-3 custom AI chip, which is designed to provide greater computing power for software developers. The chip represents the latest challenge to Nvidia, which currently dominates the market for graphics processing units or GPUs, as more AI companies are looking to diversify their suppliers and seek alternatives to NVIDIA. And the journal is exclusively reporting that Saudi Arabia's government investment fund is set to take nearly full control of electronic arts. The fund is buying the video game maker with buyout firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's

affinity partners for $55 billion, including debt. The deal announced in September would be the biggest leverage buyout ever. A recent filing with Brazil's antitrust regulator shows that the Saudi Fund would take a dominant stake of more than 93% in electronic arts. That means it would shoulder nearly all the financial burden of the deal, even as Saudi Arabia's finances are under pressure from many expensive domestic projects like a planned megacity. Since taking office in January, Daniel Lurie has added a new responsibility to the job of San Francisco

Mayor, social media star. He's racked up more than 180,000. followers on Instagram with 21 million monthly views and 33,000 followers on TikTok. He posts every day from around the city, sometimes with celebrity cameos from the likes of Roger Federer. Some posts are somber. Most are upbeat and even a bit hokey. Just took part in another holiday tradition down here at Union Square. SPCA and Macy's team up and they put dogs and cats who are up for adoption in their windows. It's something that I remember as a kid, and we just unveiled the new windows just now. Come down, visit Union Square.

To City Boosters, the mayor is San Francisco's biggest cheerleader as the city recovers from a tough few years. And just how much time does a busy mayor need for his social media influencer habit? Lurie says it takes up, quote, probably 2% of my day. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Pure Biennome with supervising producer Tali, bell. I'm Sabrina Siddiqui for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with the new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.