Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Successfully Launches ‘New Glenn’ Rocket to Orbit

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its massive New Glenn rocket on its first test flight, marking a significant milestone in the company’s quest to provide reliable access to space.

AP News reports that on Thursday, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 320-foot rocket, named after the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn, carried a prototype satellite designed to host or release other satellites into their proper orbits.

The launch, which took place in the predawn hours, was a spectacle for the spectators lining the nearby beaches. All seven main engines fired at liftoff, propelling the rocket through the sky. Thirteen minutes later, the craft successfully reached orbit, a feat that drew praise from SpaceX’s Elon Musk and sparked celebrations among Blue Origin employees at Mission Control.

While the first-stage booster missed its intended landing on a barge in the Atlantic, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp emphasized that the primary goal of reaching orbit had been achieved. Jeff Bezos, who took part in the action from Mission Control, had previously acknowledged that attempting to land the booster on the first try was “a little crazy.”

The satellite carried by New Glenn was designed to remain inside the second stage while circling Earth. In accordance with NASA’s practices for minimizing space debris, the second stage was to be placed in a safe, high, out-of-the-way orbit.

Blue Origin has invested heavily in the New Glenn program, pouring more than $1 billion into the launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company rebuilt the historic Complex 36, which is located 9 miles (14 kilometers) from its control centers and rocket factory, just outside the gates of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Looking ahead, Blue Origin plans to conduct six to eight New Glenn flights this year, with the next launch scheduled for spring. In a recent interview, Bezos declined to disclose his personal investment in the program but emphasized that he does not see Blue Origin as a competitor to Musk’s SpaceX. “There’s room for lots of winners,” Bezos said, adding that this launch marks the “very, very beginning of this new phase of the space age, where we’re all going to work together as an industry … to lower the cost of access to space.”

New Glenn joins a growing list of large, new rockets that have launched in recent years, including United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan, Europe’s upgraded Ariane 6, and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). However, the largest of them all is SpaceX’s Starship, which stands at approximately 400 feet tall.

As NASA prepares for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon, Blue Origin’s lander, named Blue Moon, is set to make its debut on the third lunar landing. The successful launch of New Glenn brings Blue Origin one step closer to realizing this goal and cementing its position as a key player in the new era of space exploration.

The AP contributed to this report.

Read more at AP News here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.