Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket approaching 2nd Florida launch

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket could be very a lot a Brevard county creation. It’s one of many greatest rockets launching on this planet immediately. And for its second mission, the Blue Origin crew is hoping to drag off a profitable booster touchdown at sea.

Also, for these on Brevard County seashores, New Glenn’s launchpad is likely one of the most seen out on the Cape, promising an amazing view for the deliberate Nov. 9 launch.

Named for the primary American in orbit, this big rocket is about to raise off no sooner than Sunday, Nov. 9 from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window extends from 2:45 p.m. to five:11 p.m., a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory reveals.

Expect to see the primary stage’s seven BE-4 engines propel the rocket off the launch pad, sending NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission on its journey to Mars.

Here’s an in depth have a look at this monster rocket earlier than its sophomore launch.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn calls Cape Canaveral residence

Blue Origin has massive plans for its New Glenn rocket past this upcoming launch — and it is all coming collectively proper right here in Brevard County.

At the corporate’s Merritt Island facility on Space Commerce Way, which operates 24/7, the elements for future missions are being pushed out. Everything however the engines, that are inbuilt Huntsville, AL, are made right here.

FLORIDA TODAY acquired a glance inside this 750,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which has expanded quickly throughout the previous 5 years.

Satellites launches, NASA robotic and human moon missions, and even nationwide safety missions are on deck for this rocket within the coming years.

During FLORIDA TODAY’s go to, a number of future New Glenn first and second phases had been unfold out in an enormous manufacturing unit room, inside the power’s deep blue and white exterior. In 2025 alone, the corporate produced eight second (higher) phases on the website. This is along with a number of first (decrease) phases.

In this large rocket workshop, staff at stations attend to completely different elements of the rocket — proper right down to the tubes by way of which the rocket’s propellant will stream.

Even the payload fairings are rigorously constructed on the Florida facility. These seven-meter payload protectors are baked at 350 levels Fahrenheit for 12 hours in a large oven. These fairings are then coated with protecting paint, which supplies not solely safety from the solar but additionally from lightning. As of September, 42 fairings, or 21 mission units, sat contained in the Merritt Island facility.

And two of those payload fairings will likely be overlaying the NASA ESCAPADE mission throughout this upcoming launch.

New Glenn is likely one of the greatest rockets

From the vantage level of Brevard County seashores, this rocket could not look massive on the launch pad however it’s really one of many largest in historical past.

At 321-feet-tall, New Glenn is far bigger than some other rocket presently working from Florida. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket, which is poised to launch once more as quickly as Feb. 2026, measures in at solely a foot taller.

Going again in historical past, the one different rocket that will tower over New Glenn would have been the 363-foot-tall Saturn V rocket which despatched Apollo astronauts to the moon.

However, the most important rocket of all time is SpaceX’s 403-foot-tall Starship, which can launch from Florida within the coming years pending remaining Environmental Impact Statements.

For context, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 stands solely 230-feet-tall.

New Glenn goals to land on platform after liftoff

Blue Origin goals to land and reuse its 188-foot-tall first stage booster to convey down the price of launching orbital missions. This is one thing SpaceX has efficiently accomplished with its Falcon 9 rocket over the previous decade.

Blue Origin has expertise touchdown its suborbital New Shepard rocket within the West Texas desert. That’s a a lot smaller rocket which carries vacationers and science payloads. But it will likely be New Glenn which brings the corporate into competitors with SpaceX, which presently dominates the launch market.

‘Never Tell Me the Odds’ is the identify of this second New Glenn booster.

The first try at a touchdown didn’t go as deliberate in the course of the maiden launch in January, with the “Of Course There is a Chance” booster lacking the platform solely. The Jacklyn seafaring platform, which is called for Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos’ mom, returned to Port Canaveral empty a couple of days later.

Blue Origin’s final objective is to get 25 flights out of a single booster. SpaceX has already surpassed this quantity with a single Falcon 9 booster reaching 30 flights.

In the approaching years, Blue Origin is in search of to launch as much as 12 instances per 12 months – ultimately rising the variety of these liftoffs per 12 months. To assist this enhance in cadence, a future refurbishment plant, which is presently dubbed Project Alpha, is deliberate on 30 acres of land off Armory Road close to Blue Origin’s Launch Complex 36.

When is the subsequent Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch immediately? Upcoming SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA launch schedule at Cape Canaveral

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.