COCOA BEACH, Florida — Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has just taken to the skies.
New Glenn lifted off for its inaugural flight this morning (Jan. 16), launching from a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s Space Coast at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT). Approximately 12.5 minutes later, the rocket’s upper stage achieved orbit — the primary objective of today’s test flight, named NG-1 by the company.
“We successfully reached orbit,” Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s vice president of in-space systems, remarked during the company’s launch webcast. “Congratulations to everyone. What an exciting day!”
Blue Origin also attempted to land the reusable first stage of New Glenn on a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, nicknamed Jacklyn, after the mother of company founder Jeff Bezos. The booster was able to ignite three of its engines for the reentry burn as intended, but it did not achieve a successful landing.
“Although we didn’t land the booster, we came very close,” Cornell stated. “We gathered an immense amount of data.”
A successful landing would have been somewhat unexpected; the firm had emphasized numerous times prior to the launch that this was a secondary objective that was unlikely to be met during NG-1.
Related: Blue Origin: All you need to learn about the private spaceflight entity
Like several rockets, the 320-foot-tall (98 meters) New Glenn faced a lengthy journey to the launch pad. Its initial flight was expected to occur in 2020, but progress on the rocket’s powerful BE-4 first-stage engines delayed the schedule.
There were additional setbacks as the launch date approached. Today’s liftoff was originally set for Jan. 10, but Blue Origin postponed it by 72 hours due to unfavorable sea conditions in the anticipated booster landing zone. A launch attempt on Jan. 13 was canceled due to ice accumulation in one of the rocket’s power units, leading Blue Origin to delay to this morning.
The reusable first stage of New Glenn could enable it to rival SpaceX’s established Falcon 9, the world’s initial orbital-class reusable rocket. Blue Origin intends to deploy each New Glenn booster at least 25 times and has already secured customers including NASA, various U.S. government entities, AST SpaceMobile, and other telecommunications firms.
Moreover, New Glenn is slated to assist in the launch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet satellites, potentially becoming a rival to SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation. Amazon has already secured a license to launch over 3,000 Kuiper satellites.
Bezos, the founder of both Blue Origin and Amazon, has traveled to suborbital space aboard the company’s smaller New Shepard space tourism rocket.
New Glenn possesses the capability to transport 50 tons (45 metric tons) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, also featuring reusable first-stage boosters, can carry roughly 70 tons (64 metric tons) to LEO.
If everything proceeds as planned, NG-1 will aid in certifying the rocket for the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which aligns U.S. military and intelligence spacecraft with commercial launch agents. NSSL missions also encompass GPS, communications, and meteorological satellites that offer data and services to the U.S. government.
Initially, New Glenn was set to launch NASA’s twin ESCAPADE Mars probes on NG-1, but the space agency opted to postpone the mission until the rocket demonstrated its reliability for flight. ESCAPADE is now set to launch no earlier than Spring 2025.
Instead, a test version of Blue Origin’s forthcoming “Blue Ring” spacecraft flew aboard New Glenn’s inaugural mission.
This “Blue Ring Pathfinder” demonstrator is crafted to validate Blue Ring’s communication, in-space data gathering, tracking, and command systems while still connected to New Glenn’s second stage, as Blue Origin detailed in a mission overview for NG-1 from December 2024. This data gathering is expected to extend for about six hours during NG-1, assuming everything goes as planned.
This inaugural mission will assist Blue Origin in refining and enhancing the production version of the spacecraft for future missions. The Blue Ring is being developed as part of the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Orbital Logistics Program. The DIU is a U.S. Department of Defense organization aiming to cultivate and deploy emerging technologies for national security.
With that in mind, Blue Origin is creating Blue Ring to address DIU’s requirement for a “heavy utility multi-orbit logistics vehicle,” or m-OLV. Blue Ring, or any vehicle that is ultimately selected for this task, will be structured to deliver “affordable, swift access to geostationary (GEO) and other unique orbits beyond low Earth orbit,” as stated in a DIU announcement.
In essence, Blue Ring will serve as a base for additional satellites. It will possess the capacity to carry approximately 6,600 pounds (3,000 kilograms) using 13 various payload adapters.
The spacecraft will have the ability to deliver loads to geostationary orbit, cislunar orbit (orbits near and surrounding the moon), and even interplanetary orbits, as outlined in a Blue Origin overview.
However, all that is prospective work. The key takeaway from today’s flight is that a robust new orbital-class rocket has demonstrated its capabilities in flight.
“The forthcoming era of space exploration at Blue Origin is upon us,” Cornell remarked to conclude the NG-1 launch webcast. “We are eager to see you soon during our next launch. We are just beginning.”