Blue Origin successfully launched a New Glenn rocket into space
Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin has launched its massive new rocket, called New Glenn, into orbit for the first time.
The missile Rifaat at 2:03 a.m. ET on January 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and crossed the official border into space a few minutes later. Shortly after, the second stage’s combustion placed the upper portion of the rocket into Earth orbit.
While it was the rocket’s inaugural launch, some things went well, and the company said that reaching orbit safely is its main goal. But the rocket’s first stage exploded on its way back to Earth when Blue Origin tried to land that part on a drone ship at sea. The company hopes to launch again this spring and plans Up to eight New Glenn is launching this year.
“I am extremely proud that New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt,” Dave Limp, former Amazon executive and Blue Origin CEO, said in a statement. “We knew that landing our booster, ‘So you’re telling me there’s a chance,’ on the first try was an ambitious goal. We will learn a lot from today and try again on our next launch this spring. Thank you to everyone on Team Blue for this amazing achievement.”
The successful launch begins a new era for Blue Origin, which until now has been stuck with a rocket (called New Shepard) not designed to go into orbit, limiting its usefulness. Blue Origin needs New Glenn to succeed in order to build a strong launch company so it can take on Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has dominated the industry in recent years.
Firstly It was unveiled in 2016At 320 feet tall, New Glenn is powered by seven BE-4 engines, also designed by Blue Origin. The company initially hoped to launch the giant rocket as early as 2021. But the expensive development process took longer than expected. Along the way, Blue Origin has spent time in legal battles with… NASA and SpaceX Regarding launch contracts, he was accused of Cut corners on safety by Many employees.
Blue Origin now hopes to use New Glenn to launch satellites and other spacecraft, including one it is designing for the moon. The company already has contracts with NASA, the Space Force, Amazon’s Kuiper Project, and others.
It also hopes to launch one day Astronauts to the moon As part of NASA’s Artemis project. However, NASA’s focus always shifts with the political winds, and Musk — who has forged a deep relationship with incoming President Donald Trump — He said “The moon is a distraction.” Bezos He told the press this week He believes there is room for “multiple winners” in the industry.
