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Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company is Slashing Workforce after Debut Orbital Launch

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Jan. 16, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. - AP Photo
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Jan. 16, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. - AP Photo
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Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company is Slashing Workforce after Debut Orbital Launch

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Jan. 16, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. - AP Photo
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Jan. 16, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. - AP Photo

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin is cutting 10% of its workforce, The AP reported.

This week’s move comes a month after the debut of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which reached orbit on its first try. CEO Dave Limp relayed the layoff news to employees Thursday, with notifications going out Friday.

In an email to staff obtained by The AP, Limp said it was a “tough decision” but that the company grew too fast over the past few years.

“With that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed," he said in the note.

Limp said the cuts are needed in order to speed up manufacturing as well as the launch rate. Based in Kent, Washington, Blue Origin launches its New Glenn rockets from Florida and its smaller New Shepard rockets from Texas.

Like Elon Musk’s SpaceX — its chief competitor — Blue Origin holds contracts from NASA to land astronauts on the moon in the coming years.

It was not immediately clear how many employees would be affected by the layoffs. The privately-held Blue Origin does not disclose employment figures.

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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

However, resources at the time did not allow for further research, he added.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing", which highlighted a genetic mutation, Peyrard said.

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

This woman "is undoubtedly the only known case in the world," said the expert.

"She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself," he said.

Peyrard said the woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

The name "Gwada negative", which refers to the patient's origins and "sounds good in all languages", has been popular with the experts, said Peyrard.

The ABO blood group system was first discovered in the early 1900s. Thanks to DNA sequencing, the discovery of new blood groups has accelerated in recent years.

Peyrard and colleagues are now hoping to find other people with the same blood group.

"Discovering new blood groups means offering patients with rare blood types a better level of care," the EFS said.