Jeff Bezos’s space exploration company, Blue Origin, achieved a significant milestone with the successful launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida. This inaugural flight marks the company’s first foray into Earth’s orbit.
The massive rocket, standing 98 meters (321.5 feet) tall with a reusable first stage, lifted off from Blue Origin’s launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station around 2 am (07:00 GMT). This launch followed a scrubbed attempt on Monday due to ice accumulation on a propellant line. On Thursday, however, the company reported no issues prior to launch.
This mission, representing a decade-long, multi-billion dollar investment, involved the first-stage booster making a controlled landing in the Atlantic Ocean, while the rocket’s second stage continued its trajectory towards orbit. Previously, Blue Origin had only utilized its rockets for suborbital space tourism flights.
In a pre-launch interview with Reuters, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who established Blue Origin in 2000, expressed the company’s primary concern: the successful recovery of the booster. The development of New Glenn has been a lengthy process, spanning the tenures of three Blue Origin CEOs and facing numerous delays. During this time, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as a dominant force in the space industry with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, currently the world’s most frequently launched orbital vehicle. This successful launch of New Glenn represents a critical step for Blue Origin in its pursuit of orbital spaceflight capabilities and positions it as a more direct competitor to SpaceX.
By
