Blue Origin‘s New Glenn launch vehicle reached space and its intended orbit during its inaugural launch on Thursday, affirming the Jeff Bezos-founded company’s position as a competitor to Elon Musk‘s SpaceX in the satellite launch business.
What Happened: The vehicle launched at around 2 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida upon igniting all seven engines.
Though its second stage reached orbit safely, its reusable first-stage booster was lost during its descent through the atmosphere. The company had intended to land the booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after separation from the second stage.
"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,” said company CEO Dave Limp.
The vehicle carried a prototype of Blue Ring, a small spacecraft developed by the company, as payload on its long-awaited inaugural launch.
Why It Matters: The New Glenn has a long order book from customers including NASA, Amazon's Project Kuiper, and AST SpaceMobile. It is expected to rival SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
The launch on Thursday marks Blue Origin’s first attempt to orbit since its inception about 25 years ago. The company’s New Shepard rocket could only go up to the edge of space.
The company now intends to launch the New Glenn vehicle again in Spring.
Despite the rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin, Musk on Thursday applauded the latter for reaching orbit on its first try.
“Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt!,” Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X.
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Photo courtesy: Blue Origin
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