When the contract was awarded in 2021 Blue Origin had to something like 20 sub orbital New Sheppard launches (thru 2021) and the BE-4 engine had not flown yet.

When the contract was awarded in 2021 Blue Origin had to something like 20 sub orbital New Sheppard launches (thru 2021) and the BE-4 engine had not flown yet. SpaceX had over 100 launches. Including missions to the space station and crewed launches. Also, Musk was not completely bonkers yet. I have some confidence in Blue Origin and I have my doubts about catching rockets and all but at the time it looked like as safe a bet as any other.