Nearly a quarter of a century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is preparing to launch an orbital rocket for the first time — and finally enter the competitive launch industry currently dominated by SpaceX.
Company executives have said they plan to launch the high-altitude rocket, dubbed New Glenn, before the end of the year. However, an air traffic advisory posted last week suggests Blue Origin could launch as early as January 6.
Regardless, there’s little left for the company to do in terms of pre-launch tests or paperwork: Blue Origin received a launch license for New Glenn from federal regulators last week, which authorizes launches for five years. On the same day, the company successfully conducted a launch wear test called a hot fire test. All that’s left on the checklist, Blue Origin CEO David Limp confirmed, is connecting the panel, which carries the rocket’s payload.
When the rocket is finally launched, seven of the Blue Origin-manufactured BE-4 engines will fire up to generate over 3.8 million pounds of thrust and propel the rocket away from its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 320-foot-tall rocket will carry the technology demonstration for Blue Origin’s Blue Ring spacecraft, an orbital transfer vehicle that is designed to provide transportation, logistics and satellite services.
New Glenn and Blue Ring are just two of several products that Blue Origin has developed to compete in multiple areas of the space industry. After all, the company is looking to take on several competitors — not least SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which currently launches the bulk of national security and commercial satellite payloads — that are developing lunar landers, private space stations and more. a lot.
Up until this point, Blue Origin has been mostly known for its New Shepard suborbital rocket, which carries space tourists and some cargo up to suborbital space and back on short flights.
If all goes according to plan, New Glenn’s booster will return to Earth and land vertically on a floating barge, to be refurbished and reused up to 25 times. NASA also used Blue Origin to launch twin spacecraft to Mars — those satellites were supposed to fly on this inaugural mission, but after the launch was delayed from October, the space agency decided to feature them on a later New Glenn launch. Blue Origin has also signed launch agreements with the Space Force, Amazon’s Kuiper Project and other commercial companies.
