This also implies New Glenn won't be ready in time, or human rated in time, for 2024. New Glenn is supposed to be even more powerful than the Falcon Heavy.

That said, even if they could have New Glenn ready , it's probably super smart to tie themselves to some of the legacy aerospace companies.

It aligns a whole lot of lobbyists behind Blue Origin's bids, and brings with it a lot of expertise on the bidding process.

Blue Origin's relationship with legacy aerospace feels a lot like Microsoft and IBM.