Raphael Stevens

European Union regulators fined Illumina a record 432 million euros ($476 million) for closing its acquisition of cancer test developer Grail without first securing regulatory approval.
A spokesperson for San Diego-based Illumina told CNBC the DNA sequencing company would appeal the fine. 
The European Commission last year blocked the $7.1 billion Grail deal over concerns it would stifle innovation and consumer choice in the emerging market for cancer detection tests. 

Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images

European Union regulators on Wednesday fined Illumina a record 432 million euros ($476 million) for closing its acquisition of cancer test developer Grail without first securing regulatory approval. 
The fine from the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, amounts to 10% of San Diego-based Illumina’s turnover. That is the maximum allowed under EU merger rules.

The Illumina fine exceeds the commission’s previous largest merger regulation fine of $125 million, or 1% of annual turnover, imposed on telecommunications company Altice in 2018. 
An Illumina spokesperson on Wednesday said the DNA sequencing company would appeal the fine. Illumina has already put aside $453 million to cover a potential maximum fine of 10% of turnover, according to a regulatory filing from earlier this year. 
And the deal has already cost Illumina great sums of money. The company’s market value has fallen to roughly $29 billion from around $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed its acquisition of Grail. 
But Illumina maintains that the transaction would “maximize value for shareholders” and save lives. 
The commission said in a release that Illumina “strategically weighed up the risk of a gun-jumping fine against the risk of having to pay a high break-up fee if it failed to takeover Grail.” Gun-jumping refers to the act of completing a merger before it receives regulatory clearance.

Illumina also “considered the potential profits it could obtain by jumping the gun, even if it were ultimately forced to divest Grail,” the commission said. “It then intentionally decided to proceed and to close the deal while the Commission was still investigating the transaction that was ultimately prohibited.” 
“This is a very serious infringement, which requires the imposition of a proportionate fine, with the aim of deterring such conduct,” the European Commission continued.
The commission added that Grail “played an active role in the infringement.” It issued Grail, which is based in Menlo Park, California, a separate “symbolic fine” of around $1,100. It is the first time the commission has imposed a fine on the target of an acquisition.

Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager is talking to media in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on September 6, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry Monasse | Getty Images

The European Commission last July alleged that closing the Grail acquisition was a “serious breach” of EU merger regulation that could lead to “hefty fines.” 
Two months later, the commission blocked the deal over concerns it would stifle innovation and consumer choice in the emerging market for cancer detection tests. 
Illumina has appealed the European Commission’s decision, arguing that the agency lacks jurisdiction to block the merger between the two U.S. companies. 
Illumina expects a final decision on an appeal in late 2023 or early 2024. That’s also when the company expects a decision on its appeal of a similar order by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. 
Still, the company has said it will divest Grail if it loses either appeal. 
Illumina believes it can expand the availability, affordability and profitability of Grail’s Galleri test, which can screen for more than 50 types of cancers through a single blood draw.
U.S. Republican lawmakers, a dozen state attorneys general and several advocacy groups have similarly argued that the merger could promote the widespread availability of the life-saving technology. Those parties sided with Illumina in the company’s ongoing legal battle with the FTC last month.

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Illumina’s determination to keep Grail sparked a heated proxy showdown with activist investor Carl Icahn, who holds a 1.4% stake in the company. 
Much of Icahn’s opposition stemmed from Illumina’s decision to close the acquisition without gaining approval from antitrust regulators in the E.U. and U.S. 
Illumina shareholders voted to oust former board chair John Thompson in May and install one of Icahn’s nominees. 
Weeks later, CEO Francis deSouza abruptly stepped down from his post despite surviving the proxy vote. 
Now, Illumina is searching for its new CEO while implementing a cost-cutting plan designed to shore up the company’s shrinking operating margins.  More

Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit automakers formally kicked off Wednesday.
UAW President has vowed to be aggressive in bargaining with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis for new worker contracts.
A prolonged workers strike is a particularly high risk this year and could cost automakers billions.

UAW President Shawn Fain chairs the 2023 Special Elections Collective Bargaining Convention in Detroit, March 27, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain promised union members he’d do things differently during contract talks with the Detroit automakers this year. Thus far, he has delivered.
Fain has propelled the UAW into the national spotlight with politically savvy strategies, resonant social media messaging and confidence that the embattled union can ride a national wave of support for organized labor to win a “war” against “corporate greed” and multibillion-dollar corporations General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.

“This is our defining moment, as a union as working people. And we’re taking a different approach every step of the way,” Fain said Tuesday night during a Facebook Live event with members.
The consensus among past bargainers and several people involved with prior negotiations is that this year’s bargaining, which formally kicks off Wednesday, will be “different.”
It will also be “confrontational,” “costly,” “critical,” “unprecedented” and a “s—show,” some said.
The negotiations feature new top bargainers on nearly all sides attempting to prove themselves, a belief among union membership that concessions are not an option, and significant concerns about the industry’s transition to electric vehicles eliminating jobs and deteriorating wages.
The negotiations also are taking place at the same time as contract talks with Canadian union Unifor, which represents 18,000 employees with the Detroit automakers whose contracts expire in September. While the American and Canadian unions have expressed unity with each other, it is expected to add even more complexity and competition for investments and jobs.

Instead of a customary handshake between the two sides to signal the start to bargaining, the union is opting for a “members’ handshake” Wednesday between international UAW leaders and plant workers. No officials from the companies are expected to attend the events, however the union will begin meeting in private with company officials during the next week.

Former UAW President Gary Jones, left, and Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor, shake hands at Ford World Headquarters to begin negotiations for a new contract, July 15, 2019.

Fain acknowledged Tuesday the start to negotiations marked a “break with tradition” and said, “I’m not shaking hands with any CEOs until they do right by our members and we fix the broken status quo with the Big Three.”
Public disagreements between the UAW and automakers have already begun — unexpectedly early, in the past two weeks — with local Detroit newspaper editorials from both Ford CEO Jim Farley and UAW Vice President Chuck Browning, who leads the union’s Ford department.

Playing hard ball

“We’re in the process of changing the culture of this union from a reactionary, defensive union, to an aggressive and offensive-minded union,” Fain said last month during a Facebook livestream. “We’ve also made big changes in how we do politics. … We’re going to be organizing elected officials rather than being organized by them.”
Most notably, Fain decided to withhold the organization’s reelection endorsement of President Joe Biden, a longtime union ally, until he addresses UAW concerns involving the industry’s transition to EVs. Fain has also consistently talked about doing “whatever it takes” to get members their “fair share,” including utilizing work stoppages, or strikes, if needed.
“Mr. Fain’s powertrain roots and commentary since being sworn in indicate the risk of tough negotiations is high, and we expect there could be a strike when the current UAW Master Agreement expires in mid-September,” Bank of America Securities analyst John Murphy said in a June 22 investor note.
BofA estimates such a work stoppage would cost hundreds of millions of dollars per week in earnings before interest and taxes for the companies, potentially amounting to billions of dollars in losses for automakers.

Estimated weekly effect of a union strike, per automaker

General Motors: $770 million, or 46 cents in adjusted earnings per share
Ford Motor: $620 million, or 11 cents in adjusted EPS
Stellantis: $470 million, or 12 cents in adjusted EPS

According to BofA Securities estimates.

During the last round of bargaining in 2019, a breakdown in negotiations between the Detroit automakers and UAW led to a national 40-day strike against GM. The automaker said the strike cost it about $3.6 billion that year.
Negotiations with Stellantis will formally begin Thursday, with Ford on Friday and GM on July 18. The current contracts are set to expire Sept. 14. The deals cover roughly 150,000 UAW members who work for the automakers.
In previous negotiations, after such initial meetings, the union would select a target company out of the three to focus its early efforts on, tabling the other negotiations and extending their contracts. However, Fain has not committed to such a process.
Many expect Jeep-parent Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, to be the leading company in the talks, after an Illinois assembly plant was idled indefinitely for potential closure in February. Fain and several newly elected UAW leaders also rose through the ranks of the union through Stellantis.
Members of the union who work for Stellantis also are among the most outspoken and unhappy. Stellantis was at the center of a multiyear federal investigation into the UAW that led to 18 convictions, including two ex-union presidents, and ongoing government oversight of the labor organization.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles assembly workers build 2019 Ram pickup trucks at the FCA Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Oct. 22, 2018.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Stellantis, in a statement, said the company and the union have “a long history of working together, and our intent is to continue this partnership.”
“Together, we must approach these negotiations with open minds and a willingness to roll up our sleeves to find solutions that will result in a contract that is competitive in the market, provides a path to the middle class for our employees and meets the needs of our customers,” the company said. 
GM and Ford released similar statements this week. The companies do not historically comment on specifics of the negotiations until they are concluded.

What’s at stake?

Automakers have spent decades attempting to remove fixed costs from their balance sheets. They continue to support variable bonuses such as profit sharing, based on the company’s operations instead of cost-of-living-adjustments that are dependent on outside factors such as inflation.
Fain has been steadfast in the reinstatement of COLA as a top issue for the union during this round of negotiations in addition to increased wages, retention of a platinum health-care package and the end of a grow-in, or tiered, pay system.
“The United Auto workers are ready to get back into the fight against corruption, against concessions, against tiers,” Fain said during a UAW bargaining convention shortly after becoming president. “The UAW is ready to get back into the fight for good jobs, for economic justice, for our families and for our communities.”

United Auto Workers members on strike picket outside General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in Detroit, Sept. 25, 2019.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Under the current pay structure, UAW members start at about $18 an hour and have a “grow-in” period of four years to reach a top wage of more than $30 an hour.
Following the last UAW-Detroit automaker negotiations in 2019, the Center for Automotive Research forecast average hourly labor costs would increase $11 per worker for Stellantis and $8 per worker at GM and Ford through the current contracts, which expire in September. Those hikes increase labor costs for the automaker to $66 per hour for Stellantis, $69 for Ford and $71 for GM, CAR said.
Wage hikes in this year’s negotiations could mean further labor cost increases for the Detroit automakers of between 25% and 30% over the next four years, according to BofA’s Murphy, based on recent UAW negotiations with companies outside the auto sector such as Deere & Co., Caterpillar and CNH.
In addition to pay, benefits and bonuses, the union also has the auto industry’s transition to EVs in its sights. Fain has called for a “just transition” for workers, as the government uses taxpayer money to subsidize the EV industry.
A 2018 study by the union found mass adoption of EVs could cost the UAW 35,000 jobs, however the union has more recently said that number could be less.
“The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers,” Fain said earlier this year. “The EV transition is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom. We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments.”

Battery workers

Making matters all the more complicated, the UAW is simultaneously negotiating separate contracts with Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution to produce batteries for the automaker’s EVs near Lordstown, Ohio, where the company closed a major assembly plant during the last round of negotiations.
In a white paper released Monday, the UAW detailed some reported safety issues and concerns at the plant by workers. The union suggested the GM national agreement, including its wages, could be a solution to fixing the problems at the site.

General Motors revealed its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, on March 4, 2020 at its Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan.
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

Ultium condemned the report and the UAW’s depiction of the plant, calling the UAW’s characterization of the safety concerns “knowingly false and misleading.” 
“We strongly object to the UAW whitepaper and will provide a detailed response after further review,” Ultium said in an emailed statement. “Ultium Cells is eager to resume bargaining with the UAW to discuss any specific concerns, as well as the total compensation package, for our team members.”
Ultium has said hourly workers currently make between $16 and $22 an hour with full benefits, incentives and tuition assistance. That compares to traditional hourly UAW members that can make upward of $32 an hour at GM plants. More

Brand management firm Go Global Retail, which owns children’s apparel company Janie and Jack, was eager to acquire Buy Buy Baby from Bed Bath & Beyond but couldn’t reach an agreement on valuation.
Dream on Me Industries, a little-known New Jersey-based retailer and one of Buy Buy Baby’s former suppliers, won the chain’s trademark and digital assets for $15.5 million.
The sale was approved during a hearing in federal bankruptcy court in Newark, New Jersey.

Signs stating everything is on sale at a Buy Buy Baby store in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Feb. 6, 2023.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Buy Buy Baby’s stores are set to disappear after a last ditch effort to save the chain and keep the business alive fell apart, CNBC has learned. 
Brand management firm Go Global Retail, which owns children’s apparel company Janie and Jack, was eager to buy the beloved Bed Bath & Beyond chain and keep it running, but ultimately couldn’t reach an agreement on valuation, the firm’s CEO Jeff Streader told CNBC. 

Lender Sixth Street Partners, Bed Bath & Beyond’s lead creditor, determined it could recover more of its losses than what Go Global was willing to offer by selling Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property, auctioning off its leases and moving ahead with liquidation sales. 
Dream on Me Industries, a little-known New Jersey-based retailer and one of Buy Buy Baby’s former suppliers, won the chain’s trademark and digital assets for $15.5 million after Bed Bath & Beyond failed to receive any higher bids. 
Go Global believed there was a path to close as recently as Monday, but in the end, it couldn’t agree on a number with Sixth Street, Streader said. 
“We were being fair in our offer. Sixth Street was not unreasonable but there was a difference in opinion on valuation,” he said. “We wish the IP bid winners success in their journey.” 
In total, Go Global’s offer had a higher dollar amount than Dream on Me’s, but not by much because “there was a huge erosion of value in the last six weeks,” according to a person close to the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. 

If the firm’s offer was accepted, it would’ve needed to put up additional capital at the time of the sale to keep stores running and the way its bid was constructed didn’t factor in the cost of Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property, said another person close to the matter. While Sixth Street would’ve preferred to keep stores open, Bed Bath didn’t receive a viable bid to allow that, said the person.
When the auction process first began, Go Global was prepared to offer a “substantially higher” price, said one of the people. In May, the firm was seeking an additional $50 million in capital to shore up its bid, CNBC previously reported. 
However, nearly three months into liquidation sales at Buy Buy Baby’s 120 stores, there was very little left to bid on besides its IP, empty stores, leases and whatever inventory was left, said the source. 
For the past several weeks, Bed Bath & Beyond has repeatedly pushed back and split up the bankruptcy-run auction process for Buy Buy Baby so it could secure higher bids and find a firm that was willing to keep stores running. 
However, each time the auction was pushed back, it was only delayed by about a week or so, which “definitely deterred prospective bidders or investors,” said the source. 
“Most people cannot move that quickly,” the source added. 
During a hearing in federal bankruptcy court in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, Judge Vincent Papalia approved the sale of Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property to Dream on Me as one of the bidder’s staffers, who appeared virtually via Zoom for the hearing, was seen smoking a cigarette on screen. 
Bed Bath & Beyond’s lawyers said it was “unfortunate” they weren’t able to secure a buyer as Papalia and other attorneys present for the hearing expressed their disappointment that the chain couldn’t be saved. 
“I share in the disappointment for the lack of going concern bids,” said Papalia. 
“It’s a shame, I guess both parts are not going forward and that is disappointing. I had higher hopes going in but sometimes, those hopes aren’t realized.”   More

The European Union’s drug regulator said it has broadened an investigation into the risk of suicidal thoughts among patients taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda drugs to include other weight loss and diabetes medications. 
The agency didn’t specify which additional drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, are now included in the investigation.
Suicidal behavior is not currently listed as a side effect in the EU product information for any GLP-1 receptor agonists. 

In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter in Los Angeles, April 17, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

The European Union’s drug regulator on Tuesday said it has broadened an investigation into the risk of suicidal thoughts and self-injury among patients taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda drugs to include other weight loss and diabetes medications. 
The European Medicines Agency didn’t specify which additional drugs are now included in the investigation, but it could potentially include Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is approved in the EU. Other companies such as Pfizer and Amgen are developing similar products. 

The EMA said it is now evaluating about 150 reports of possible cases of self-injury and suicidal thoughts in patients taking weight loss and diabetes drugs. It’s still unclear if the medicines caused the events or whether they are linked to patients’ underlying conditions or other factors, the statement said.
The EMA expects to finish its probe in November, according to a statement.   
On Monday, the agency told CNBC it launched an investigation into the matter after the Icelandic Medicines Agency flagged three cases of suicidal thoughts and self-injury in patients taking drugs containing liraglutide and semaglutide. 
Liraglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Saxenda. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the Danish company’s weight loss injection, Wegovy, and its diabetes counterpart, Ozempic. 
Liraglutide and semaglutide are part of a class of highly popular drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists. 

They mimic a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1 to suppress a person’s appetite and ultimately aid with weight loss. Those drugs can also help people manage Type 2 diabetes because they encourage insulin release from the pancreas, lowering blood sugar levels.
Novo Nordisk said in a statement to CNBC on Monday that “safety data collected from large clinical trial programs and post marketing surveillance have not demonstrated a causal association between semaglutide or liraglutide and suicidal and self-harming thoughts.”
The company said it is “continuously performing surveillance of the data from ongoing clinical trials and real-world use of its products and collaborates closely with the authorities to ensure patient safety and adequate information to healthcare professionals.”
The EMA’s investigation could potentially establish new side effects associated with blockbuster drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic, which are already known to cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. 
Suicidal behavior is not currently listed as a side effect in the EU product information for any GLP-1 receptor agonists. 
The U.S. prescribing information for Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, also does not list suicidal thoughts or self-injury as side effects. But it does include a recommendation to monitor patients for depression or suicidal thoughts and to discontinue the drug if symptoms develop. 
Clinical trials in adults found nine of 3,300 people on Saxenda reported suicidal ideation. That’s compared with two of more than 1,900 people on a placebo. The prescribing information says “there was insufficient information to establish a causal relationship to Saxenda.”
There is no similar warning in the U.S. prescribing information for Ozempic. 
Wegovy’s U.S. prescribing information notes suicidal ideation and behavior have been reported in clinical trials for other weight management products. Patients on Wegovy should be monitored for depression and suicidal thoughts or behavior, the information says. 
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S. at 988 or the Samaritans in the U.K. at 116 123. More

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion while testing its BE-4 rocket engine last month, CNBC has learned.
During a firing on June 30 at Blue Origin’s facility in West Texas, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test.
A Blue Origin spokesperson confirmed the incident, noting no personnel were injured and an investigation is underway, with a “proximate cause” identified.

A test of a BE-4 engine at Blue Origin’s Launch Site One facility in West Texas, Aug. 2, 2019.
Blue Origin

A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC has learned, a destructive setback with potential ramifications for the company’s customers and its own rocket.
During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos’ space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin’s customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA’s second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.
A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company “ran into an issue while testing Vulcan’s Flight Engine 3.”
“No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause,” Blue Origin said, adding “we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions.”
The company noted it “immediately” made its customer ULA aware of the incident. ULA is the rocket-building joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which competes primarily with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, especially going head-to-head over the most lucrative military launch contracts.

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Blue Origin also said it will be able to “continue testing” engines in West Texas. The company previously built two stands for the tests.
“We will be able to meet our engine delivery commitments this year and stay ahead of our customer’s launch needs,” Blue Origin added.

Vulcan delays

BE-4’s test failure threatens to further push back the already-delayed first Vulcan launch — which was recently rescheduled to the fourth quarter of this year — while Blue Origin examines the cause of the problem.
Each Vulcan rocket uses a pair of BE-4 engines to launch. ULA waited anxiously for years to receive delivery of the first set. A month ago, ULA completed a key milestone in preparation for the first Vulcan launch, known as Cert-1, with a short static fire test of the rocket using the first pair of BE-4 flight engines.
In a statement to CNBC, a ULA spokesperson said, “The BE-4 testing issue is not expected to impact our plans for the Vulcan Cert-1 mission.” The company noted that the engines for Cert-1 “successfully passed acceptance testing” and are qualified to launch.

The Vulcan rocket for the Cert-1 mission stands at SLC-41 during testing in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 12, 2023.
United Launch Alliance

As ULA’s Cert mission name implies, the company needs to launch two Vulcans successfully to complete the U.S. Space Force’s certification of the rocket for operational flights. With ULA set to retire its currently operational rockets, Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy, the company needs Vulcan to be certified as soon as possible to begin flying national security missions.
Last month, Space Force assigned SpaceX and ULA each with six missions under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 program. All six of ULA’s NSSL missions are set to fly on Vulcan. Additionally, ULA is preparing to bid for Phase 3 contracts under NSSL, with the Space Force welcoming heightened competition.
Blue Origin’s BE-4 incident comes after ULA spent three months investigating its own test explosion. In March, a separate part of the rocket, known as the upper stage, exploded during a structural test and required ULA to partially disassemble the first Vulcan rocket to reinforce the upper stage that was already installed.
While ULA determined the problem would be fairly easy to fix, it is now testing a change to the thickness of the upper stage’s steel walls to ensure the solution is sufficient before the company reinstalls an improved version.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn

At the same time that Blue Origin needs to get BE-4 working well and humming off the production line for its main customer, the company also needs the engines for its own reusable New Glenn rocket that’s in development.
While Vulcan uses two BE-4 engines, each New Glenn rocket requires seven BE-4 engines, meaning Blue Origin needs to produce dozens a year to support both rockets.
Vulcan and New Glenn are both under contract to fly satellites for another Bezos-founded company, Amazon. The blockbuster commercial launch deal saw Amazon order 38 Vulcan launches and up to 27 New Glenn launches to fly its Project Kuiper internet satellites over the next few years.
Blue Origin also plans to use New Glenn to fly the lunar lander it’s developing under a $3.4 billion NASA contract.

A mass simulator version of a New Glenn rocket is moved for testing in November 2021.
Blue Origin

BE-4, the centerpiece of Blue Origin’s stable of rocket engines, was supposed to be ready by 2017, but a myriad of development issues has meant the company only finished the first flight-ready engines recently.
Similarly, New Glenn was originally slated for its inaugural flight in 2020. But delays have changed that timeline to unknown, with Blue Origin leadership in recent public appearances declining to comment on a new debut launch target for New Glenn.
Blue Origin opened a major engine production factory in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2020, and has expanded its facilities in the area to about 1 million square feet. NASA leased engine test stands at the Marshall Space Flight Center to Blue Origin. The company tests its smaller BE-7 lunar lander engine there, while restoring a larger NASA stand for BE-4 testing at its testing facility in Texas. More