[9] The contract with Blue was one of three funded Space Act Agreements (SAA) that NASA issued for the first phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations program (CLD).
The 2021 contract with Blue was just the first phase of two by which NASA is aiming to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. presence in low-Earth orbit by transitioning from the International Space Station to other platforms.
[11][needs update] In June 2023, ISRO chairman S Somanath told the Times of India that Blue Origin is “very keen” on considering using an Indian rocket as a crew capsule to service its proposed space station Orbital Reef in low-Earth orbit as a part of commercial ventures proposed by ISRO before the launch of the planned Indian Space Station .
[13] In March 2024, NASA reported that Blue Origin had passed 4 test milestones relating to Orbital Reef.
[15][16] Orbital Reef’s design is reported to be modular in nature, to provide the greatest amount of customization and compatibility.