Jeff Bezos’ rocket “New Glenn” successfully launched

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has tested its new, powerful rocket “New Glenn” for the first time. The approximately 100 meter high rocket, named after US astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016), successfully lifted off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida, as live footage from the company showed.

There was initially no exact information available about the planned landing of the launch vehicle on a platform in the Atlantic during the test flight. There was discussion in forums about a possible failure in this part of the test flight.

“This is our first flight and we have prepared thoroughly for it,” Blue Origin announced shortly before takeoff on the X platform. “But no amount of ground testing or mission simulation can replace a flight with this rocket.” The most important goal of the test launch is to reach orbit safely. This apparently worked without any problems.

“Anything that goes beyond that is the icing on the cake,” it was also said. It was initially unclear whether this icing on the cake – the ambitious attempt to land in the Atlantic – went perfectly.

On board the two-stage heavy-lift rocket had a prototype of the “Blue Ring” spacecraft, which will later launch satellites into space. Among other things, the flight was intended to test the communication capabilities of “Blue Ring” by engineers on Earth.

According to its own information, Blue Origin has been working on the development of the partially reusable rocket, which can transport around 45 tons of material into low Earth orbit, for more than a decade. Astronauts will also be able to use it to complete missions in the future.

According to the company, the first stage of “New Glenn” is designed for at least 25 flights. This will lead to significantly less waste and costs. SpaceX also relies on reusable rocket parts. With other rockets, such as the European launch vehicle Ariane 6, the engines simply fall into the sea.

In the future, Blue Origin wants to compete with SpaceX, which currently dominates commercial space travel. Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s space company has been flying for the US space agency Nasa and other clients for years, primarily with its “Falcon Heavy” rocket. The “Falcon Heavy” can transport around 64 tons of material.

Musk congratulated his rival on the successful start. “Congratulations on reaching Earth orbit on the first try!” Musk wrote on his Platform X.

SpaceX is also currently developing the largest rocket system ever built in space history, the “Starship”. Its seventh test flight could take off later this week. So far, Blue Origin has primarily offered short all-round trips for space tourists with the “New Shepard” rocket. Bezos himself was on board on their first flight in 2021.