Blue Origin New Glenn rocket hits Orbit, sets sights on SpaceX

New Glenn has similar carrying capacity to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and is designed to shuttle cargo into space
An undated image of Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. — Blue Origin
An undated image of Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. — Blue Origin 

The billionaire space race took a major advancement today as Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The launch occurred at 2:03am ET, with New Glenn's seven reusable BE-4 engines propelling the NG-1 rocket into space. The second stage and payload reached orbit, achieving Blue Origin's primary mission goal.

The Blue Ring Pathfinder payload vehicle was also successfully activated and is performing well.

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket launched

In a parallel mission, the first stage booster, named "So You're Telling Me There's A Chance," attempted to land on a platform in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the booster lost contact with control and was lost during landing. Blue Origin plans to try again in the spring.

Despite the booster loss, the main goal of reaching orbit was achieved. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp expressed pride in New Glenn's success, stating, "No matter what, we will learn a lot." 

The launch marks a decade of development and positions Blue Origin as a strong competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket features

New Glenn has a similar carrying capacity to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and is designed to shuttle cargo into space using a reusable launch platform. This includes satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper, which aims to provide high-speed, low-latency internet service. 

The first of these 3,236 satellites is expected to launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket before New Glenn takes over.