At Amazon, he launched Alexa. His new job is to launch rockets.

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has spent two decades trailing Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space-exploration race. To fix this, Bezos has turned to a trusted Amazon.com lieutenant known for getting products out the door.

Incoming Blue Origin Chief Executive Officer Dave Limp, who shepherded Alexa’s introduction in 2014, is a fierce guardian of Amazon and Bezos’s…