Amazon founder looking for aerospace engineers for rocket project

Seattle (WA) - Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is looking for aerospace engineers to work on its space rocket project.

The space project, dubbed Blue Origin, has been slowly coming together since, according to Bezos, a prototype of the rocket was successfully tested on November 13, 2006. The rocket is named the "New Shepard" and looks similar to small orbital launchers from NASA.

Bezos’s goal is "a vertical take-off, vertical-landing vehicle designed to take a small number of astronauts on a sub-orbital journey into space," according to the letter on the new home page of his website.

As Bezos moves forward with his goal, he is looking for new engineers to join the team already working on the project. "Blue Origin is actively hiring. We are particularly looking for experienced propulsion engineers and experienced turbomachinery engineers, as well as a senior leader to head our turbopump group. Folks with turbopump or propulsion experience on large, modern, cryogenic engines such as the RS-68 are of particular interest," he writes on the site.

Commercial space flight, originally one of the biggest dreams of the future, is now a reality, with flagship company Virgin Galactic already having booked reservations for its SpaceShipOne orbital tourist flights. Blue Origin is behind in the race, but the successful prototype launch shows that Amazon is indeed in the race for privately funded space launches.