Blue Origin’s long-awaited New Glenn rocket lifted off the pad at KSC shortly after 2am ET, successfully reaching orbit on its first mission.
New Glenn’s first venture past the Kármán line begins a new era in commercial heavy-lift launch, as Blue Origin can now offer a viable alternative to SpaceX for commercial companies looking to reach orbit.
Waiting game: Originally scheduled for last Friday, New Glenn’s maiden flight was pushed back multiple times—due to both technical problems and rough seas off the Space Coast that were too choppy to support a booster landing.
Unfortunately, the calmer weather wasn’t enough, and Blue Origin lost its booster during descent.
“We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a statement.
Milestones: Today’s flight also marks New Glenn’s first National Security Space Launch Certification flight, paving a path for the company to begin taking military payloads to orbit.
New Glenn’s payload—Blue Ring Pathfinder, part of the DIU’s Orbital Logistics prototype effort—achieved all of its mission goals, testing the spacecraft’s core technology and capabilities. Once it’s fully operational, Blue Ring will be able to deliver up to 3,000 kg of payloads to destinations in GEO, cislunar, and interplanetary space.
What’s next: The company has several New Glenn vehicles in production and multiple years of orders to fill, including multiple flights for Amazon’s Kuiper constellation and AST Spacemobile, plus missions for NASA’s Moon to Mars program.
