Blue Origin, the area firm based by Jeff Bezos, efficiently launched its large New Glenn rocket on its inaugural flight early Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Named after astronaut John Glenn, the primary American to orbit Earth, the 320-foot (98-meter) rocket goals to bolster Blue Origin’s function within the aggressive area trade, presently dominated by SpaceX.
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The New Glenn rocket carried a prototype satellite tv for pc designed to stay inside its second stage throughout this take a look at mission, orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth for roughly six hours.
The mission concluded with the second stage positioned in a protected orbit to reduce area particles, aligning with Nasa’s sustainability practices.
The rocket’s first-stage booster tried a managed touchdown on a barge within the Atlantic Ocean, a key step towards reusability. Blue Origin envisions six to eight New Glenn flights this yr, with the following mission slated for spring.
The launch happened on the historic Complex 36, rebuilt at a value of over $1 billion. Once used for Nasa’s Mariner and Pioneer spacecraft launches, the pad now symbolizes a bridge between area exploration’s storied previous and its formidable future.
Bezos, who participated within the launch from Blue Origin’s Mission Control, emphasised collaboration throughout the trade: “This is the very starting of a brand new part of the area age, the place we’ll work collectively to decrease the price of entry to area,” he mentioned.
New Glenn’s debut joins a wave of cutting-edge rockets, together with SpaceX’s Starship, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan, and Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS). While SpaceX stays the chief in rocket reusability and heavy-lift capabilities, Bezos insists Blue Origin will not be in competitors with Elon Musk’s firm.
The New Glenn rocket is designed to assist a variety of missions, from deploying satellites to carrying astronauts to orbit and the moon. Its first lunar mission, utilizing the Blue Moon lander, is deliberate for Nasa’s Artemis program’s third moon touchdown later this decade.
Originally deliberate to launch Nasa’s Escapade spacecraft to Mars in 2023, New Glenn confronted delays that pushed the mission to spring 2025 on the earliest. These twin spacecraft are supposed to check the Martian ambiance and magnetosphere.
