Blue Origin Soars: A Historic First Orbit Achievement for a New Space Venture!

Blue Origin etched its name into history during the predawn hours of Thursday. Founded by Jeff Bezos, the company marked a milestone by being the first to successfully achieve orbit on their initial launch with a new orbital-class rocket within the recently emerged era of commercial space exploration during the last twenty years.

After addressing an unexpected hold to cool its engines and a stray vessel entering the restricted zone, the New Glenn rocket, rising as high as a 32-story building, lumbered off the pad, propelled by 3.9 million pounds of thrust.

The seven BE-4 engines on the first stage booster ignited at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 UTC), emitting a dazzling orange hue that transitioned to blue as the liquified natural gas (LNG)-fueled rocket embarked on its journey from pad 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.



Blue Origin encountered various weather-related postponements that led up to the launch day, and even during the countdown faced uncertain weather conditions that posed a risk of further delaying the mission.

The company also faced technical complications leading up to the launch. Blue Origin announced that an issue preventing Monday’s launch was “ice forming in a purge line on an auxiliary power unit that supplies power to some of [New Glenn’s] hydraulic systems.” Teams endeavored to resolve this matter during the three-hour window but were unable to do so in time.

They were additionally hindered from launching on Tuesday due to adverse weather conditions.

A significant objective of the NG-1 mission was to endeavor to land the first stage booster, dubbed ‘So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,’ on Blue Origin’s landing craft, named ‘Jacklyn,’ which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

After a successful stage separation, Blue Origin confirmed it was able to reignite three of the seven BE-4 engines, as planned, to execute an almost 30-second entry burn. However, shortly thereafter, the telemetry data displayed for the booster froze, and the launch commentator reported they were not receiving data.

Ultimately, it was concluded that the landing on the 380-foot-long (116 m) vessel, called ‘Jacklyn,’ was unsuccessful. Nonetheless, Blue Origin had consistently stated prior to the launch that landing the booster was an aspirational aim rather than their primary objective.

They even took the amusing step of naming the booster ‘So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance.’ Before the launch, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp communicated with Aviation Week and acknowledged that achieving it would indeed be an ambitious goal.

“It’s extremely challenging to replicate the environments, especially the hypersonic environment as it returns, and several events must occur for that landing to be successful, which we need to test with flight,” Limp stated. “That’s why, while landing it would be a bonus, we will gain invaluable insights.”



Alongside collecting data about the rocket and the launch processes, Blue Origin’s central aim was to attain orbit with its second stage and further understand its orbital space tug, the Blue Ring. Although it did not host or deploy any satellites during this mission, it was designed to “validate space to ground communications capabilities by sending commands, receiving telemetry, collecting and computing mission data, and conducting radiometric tracking (for navigation).”

The Blue Ring powered up approximately 14 minutes into the flight, and Blue Origin confirmed that the second burn was successful. The company verified that New Glenn’s upper stage, referred to as Glenn Stage 2 (GS2), reached its targeted, highly elliptical orbit within the range of medium Earth orbit, achieving an apogee of 19,300 km and a perigee of 2,400 km at a 30-degree inclination, approximately one hour and 20 minutes into the mission.

Tributes poured in from around the space exploration community, congratulating Bezos and his company on joining the ranks of those who have successfully orbited the Earth.

“Congratulations on reaching orbit on your first attempt!” exclaimed SpaceX founder Elon Musk in a post on X, tagging Bezos.

“Congratulations @JeffBezos and to the entire @blueorigin team for making the first rocket to achieve orbit on its initial launch attempt. 25 years of perseverance paid off tonight!” tweeted Astra founder and CEO, Chris Kemp.

“A remarkable week for space! Huge congratulations to team @blueorigin,” posted Rocket Lab. The company successfully deployed its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space as part of the Transporter-12 rideshare mission that lifted off on Tuesday and also supplied solar panels to Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, which ascended on Wednesday morning.

What lies ahead for Blue Origin?

In a statement on X after the launch, Limp expressed hopes for greater achievements on the next attempt.

“We did it! Orbital. A wonderful night for Team Blue,” Limp remarked. “Onward to spring and aiming again for the landing.”

Bezos informed Aviation Week that the company has approximately seven or eight upper stages in production at their manufacturing facility located just outside the entrance to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He mentioned that there are also two boosters currently in progress.

This mission was the initial step toward certifying the New Glenn rocket to secure contracts as part of the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. It will be competing against SpaceX with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets as well as United Launch Alliance and its Vulcan rocket.