Jeff Bezos backed Blue Origin space exploration project on Thursday landed a major deal to provide engines for a next-generation rocket being built by a major US launch services contractor.

United Launch Alliance said that Blue Origin will provide engines for the booster stage of a next-generation rocket -- the Vulcan Centaur -- which is on track to take to the sky in the year 2020.

ULA was created as a joint venture by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

"Vulcan Centaur will revolutionize spaceflight and provide affordable, reliable access to space for our current and future customers," ULA chief executive Tory Bruno said in a release.

"We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Blue Origin and look forward to a successful first flight of our next-generation launch vehicle."

The design of the new rocket is nearing completion, and it will be able to carry payloads into orbit around the Earth, according to Bruno.

"United Launch Alliance is the premier launch service provider for national security missions, and we're thrilled to be part of their team and that mission," said Blue Origin chief executive Bob Smith.

Bezos is behind private space exploration operation Blue Origin, into which he usually invests money from selling Amazon shares.

Blue Origin has outlined plans to build a spaceship and lunar lander capable of delivering cargo to the moon, perhaps to support colonies there.

Amazon opens new concept '4-star' retail store in New York
New York (AFP) Sept 27, 2018 - Amazon opened a new retail store in New York on Thursday selling a range of products that get top ratings from customers of the online colossus.

The brick-and-mortar outlet in New York's trendy Soho neighborhood will sell consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books and games, and "chose only the products that customers have rated 4 stars and above, or are top sellers, or are new and trending," Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon has previously opened physical stores that sell books, and has had pop-up outlets in some locations, but Amazon 4-Star is a new concept that offers a variety of goods in different categories.

"We created Amazon 4-Star to be a place where customers can discover products they will love," a company statement said.

"Amazon 4-Star's selection is a direct reflection of our customers -- what they're buying and what they're loving."

Amazon, one of the world's most valuable companies whose growth has made founder Jeff Bezos the world's richest person, has been in recent years moving increasingly to physical stores.

It has opened more than a dozen Amazon Books stores that sell top-selling titles and some additional merchandise. And it has acquired the grocery chain Whole Foods, which has several hundred stores.

Amazon has also introduced a handful of concept Amazon Go grocery stores that operate without cashiers, with purchases automatically scanned and billed to customer accounts.

Mariana Garavaglia, head of Amazon's store and retail operations, was on site for the opening but declined to comment on plans to expand this concept.

"Today we're just focused on this launch," she said.

The new store, she added, fills a need for customers.

"There are some areas where customers have told us they really appreciate the opportunity to have a physical place where they can really play with our products and interact with our products in the right environment," she said.

In the store, products have digital price tags and members of Amazon Prime can get discounts on certain items.

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Russia plans to develop reusable stage for carrier rocket by 2023, FPI Says
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 21, 2018
A fully-functioning prototype of the return stage of a reusable launch vehicle will be built in Russia within the next four years, an official from Russia's Advanced Research Foundation (FPI) told Sputnik. "As for the whole project, we are counting on four years from the start of the fully-fledged work...According to our estimates, the work will begin in the first half of next year," the official said. He clarified that the project to create a reusable stage was dubbed "Wing-SR" (stage reusa ... read more