“Prepare for Liftoff: Bezos’ Blue Origin Gears Up for Its Most Ambitious Rocket Launch Yet!”

Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket is nearly prepared to launch into space, having successfully carried out a critical test on Dec. 27.

Blue Origin/Cover Images via Reuters Connect

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Blue Origin/Cover Images via Reuters Connect

A colossal new rocket designed by Blue Origin, the private aerospace company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, stands on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, ready for its inaugural flight as soon as Friday, the firm has verified.

“This marks our initial flight and we’ve prepared diligently for it,” stated Jarrett Jones, senior vice president of the company’s New Glenn rocket, in an announcement on Monday. “But no extent of ground testing or mission simulations can substitute for launching this rocket. It’s time to fly. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll learn, improve, and implement that insight into our subsequent launch.”

Friday’s three-hour launch opportunity opens at 1 a.m. ET.

Recently, the company announced that New Glenn had successfully conducted a “hot fire” assessment, which it described as “the final significant milestone on our path to first flight.” The assessment — a launch rehearsal — involved fueling the rocket with liquefied natural gas, liquid oxygen, and hydrogen.

The 320-foot-high New Glenn is engineered to deliver up to 45 metric tons (over 99,000 pounds) into low-Earth orbit with a first stage returning to Earth to land on a sea-based recovery ship. Although its payload capacity is comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, New Glenn’s 23-foot-diameter cargo section is larger, enabling it to handle broader payloads, according to the company.

In contrast, SpaceX’s enormous Starship, developed by competing billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, reaches nearly 400 feet tall when fully assembled, overshadowing even the Saturn V rocket that first transported humans around the moon in 1968.

During its inaugural flight, New Glenn will transport cargo associated with Blue Ring, the company’s multifunctional orbital platform. If everything pans out, upcoming flights are anticipated to launch satellites, cargo, and — eventually — humans.

Starship, which has yet to achieve orbit, is scheduled for a seventh suborbital test on the same day that Blue Origin is aiming to launch.

“This is a crucial moment in space exploration and one where we’re witnessing the advantages of sustained investments in the sector,” remarked Matt Martinez, Boston Consulting Group’s North American head for the aerospace sector. “It indicates … potential and technological progress that will be essential for ongoing growth.”

New Glenn’s smaller counterpart, New Shepard, has transported numerous tourists and celebrities into space on short suborbital journeys — including Star Trek actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, a former U.S. Air Force pilot who was chosen to be the first Black astronaut candidate in 1961 but never had the opportunity to fly with NASA. Both were 90 at the time of their respective flights.

The latest Blue Origin rocket has encountered its share of challenges and setbacks. It has been under development for over a decade and was initially expected to have its first launch in 2020. In September, NASA was compelled to delay its latest Mars mission, the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), which was intended to fly aboard New Glenn.

The Blue Origin rocket is named in honor of astronaut John Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the Earth. Its New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, the inaugural U.S. astronaut in space.