Blue Origin’s Next Generation Launch System Achieves First Flight Test

Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Finally Takes Flight

A few minutes after 2:00 A.M. EST, a hulking, 320-foot-tall rocket slipped its tethers at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and heaved itself into the sky on a bluish-white pillar of flame, briefly turning night into day along the eastern shore of Florida’s Space Coast.

The early morning launch marks the inaugural flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket—and the first orbital launch for the company, which was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. With a successful maiden flight, New Glenn will become the newest reusable, heavy-lift rocket in the aerospace industry’s arsenal, a tool that will increase launch capabilities, shake up the launch market and potentially catalyze big science with its power and spacious fairing.

A Unique Addition to the Launch Market

“This rocket, with the goal of reusability and the overly large fairing, is a unique new addition that I think people are genuinely hopeful for,” says Lori Garver, NASA‘s former deputy administrator. On supporting science journalism If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

During her tenure at the space agency, Garver pushed it to invest in commercial launch services from companies such as Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, which now hauls most of our spacefaring cargo into low-Earth orbit and beyond. But competition is healthy. It drives down prices while fueling innovation and improvement. Rockets are no exception.

A New Era for Reusability

Reusability Is the Future of Launch Today SpaceX is arguably the primary launch provider for NASA and the U.S. military; its fleet of Falcon 9 rockets is also busy delivering the company’s own Starlink communication satellites into orbit. But NASA is already counting on New Glenn, named after the late astronaut John Glenn, to deliver two spacecraft into orbit around Mars.

Blue Origin has other customers lined up, too, including AST SpaceMobile, Telesat and Amazon, which will eventually launch an orbital mega constellation (like Starlink) of more than 3,200 communication satellites, known as Project Kuiper. “This is a big deal because we’re finding ourselves in this area where the demand for launch has not decreased—it’s actually increased tremendously,” says Mike French of the Space Policy Group.

A Roomy Payload Fairing

When it comes to big rockets, we tend to focus a lot on lift, but power is not the only thing that sets New Glenn apart. “I think what’s more extraordinary about that vehicle is the amount of volume it brings,” he says, referring to the payload fairing that encapsulates cargo.

At seven meters (23 feet) across, New Glenn’s fairing is the roomiest on the market. It doubles the volume provided by standard five-meter- (16.4-foot-) class rockets, such as the Falcon Heavy, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan and the now-retired Ariane 5, which launched NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on December 25, 2021.

A New Era for Science Missions

From a science perspective, more launch is a very good thing. More launch likely means more competitive prices, more options on timing and more options on what those launches can do.” French says. “Access to space is now critical for society.”

In fact, the customer base for rockets like New Glenn will almost certainly be dominated by companies that construct satellite mega constellations—such as Starlink, Project Kuiper, the U.K.’s OneWeb and Canada‘s Telesat.

A Bright Future for Space Exploration

Populating the Skies Science missions, of course, aren’t the only passengers on rockets of any size. The need for rides into orbit for military payloads, national security assets and commercial satellites for Earth observations or global communications is far greater than what space scientists—and their limited budgets—presently demand.

“When you’re deploying a constellation of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of satellites, this is a huge cost driver in terms of having access to space—being able to put those satellites in space efficiently, in the right place,” Mowry says.