A new era in the billionaire space race began today with the successful launch of Blue Origin’s 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket by Jeff Bezos from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
At 2:03AM ET, New Glenn’s seven reusable BE-4 engines fired up to launch the NG-1 rocket into space, achieving Blue Origin’s primary mission goal of reaching orbit.
Additionally, the first stage booster, named “So You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance,” descended autonomously to its landing platform in the Atlantic, but contact was lost and the booster was confirmed lost during landing.
Despite the setback, the primary goal of New Glenn reaching orbit was achieved, with Blue Origin seeing any additional successes as bonuses, such as testing the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload vehicle or successfully landing the booster.
This launch marks the culmination of nearly ten years of development for New Glenn, positioning Blue Origin as a competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Designed to carry payloads similar to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, New Glenn aims to transport cargo into space on reusable launch platforms, including satellites for Blue Origin’s alternative to Starlink’s internet service, Project Kuiper.
