New Glenn rocket successfully reaches orbit, booster explodes upon return
What's the story
Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, has successfully launched its reusable New Glenn rocket on January 16.
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This is a major milestone for the company after facing several delays due to weather conditions and technical challenges.
New Glenn—named after storied NASA astronaut John Glenn—successfully delivered its payload to medium Earth orbit, achieving its primary mission objective.
Return journey
First-stage booster could not complete controlled descent
Following the successful deployment of the payload, the first-stage booster, named "So You're Telling Me There's A Chance," attempted a controlled descent for a landing on a ship called "Jacklyn" in the Atlantic Ocean.
However, during the landing attempt, communication with the booster was lost. Blue Origin confirmed that the booster exploded during the landing phase.
Despite the booster loss, the successful deployment of the payload represents a crucial step forward for New Glenn and Blue Origin.
Rocket details
New Glenn: A competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9
Standing at an impressive height of 320 feet, the New Glenn rocket rivals SpaceX's Falcon 9.
The highlight of this rocket is its reusability, which plays a major role in cutting down launch costs and making space missions more efficient.
While Blue Origin has previously focused on suborbital flights with its New Shepard rocket, this NG-1 mission represents its first venture into orbital launches.
Blue Origin has secured NASA contracts for Mars missions and Amazon's Project Kuiper (Starlink-like internet service).
Capabilities
About New Glenn
Blue Origin's New Glenn is a two-stage rocket powered by cutting-edge engines. The first stage, known as GS1, utilizes a cluster of seven BE-4 engines, each generating an impressive 550,000 pounds of thrust.
These engines are renowned for being the most powerful liquid natural gas (LNG)-fueled engines ever developed.
The second stage, designated as GS2, relies on a pair of BE-3U engines for propulsion. 2 These engines utilize a combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants.