The heavy-lift New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbit during its maiden flight on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for Blue Origin, the private space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. This achievement brings Blue Origin one step closer to competing with launch leader SpaceX.
The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Thursday morning. The launch had experienced several weather-related delays and technical setbacks that postponed the event by several days. While the primary objective of achieving orbit was accomplished, the company did not meet its secondary goal of bringing the first-stage booster back for reuse.
According to Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, landing the booster on the first attempt was an ambitious goal, but the team “learned a lot from today” and plans to try again during the next launch scheduled for spring.
Blue Origin aims to become the second medium- or heavy-lift space launch provider, following SpaceX, to reduce launch costs through booster reusability. Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, noted, “I think New Glenn is the most promising competitor for SpaceX right now because it is the only other medium/heavy-lift launcher with reusability.” He further stated that other competitors, such as ULA’s Vulcan and Arianespace’s Ariane 6, have missed the opportunity for reusability and lack the potential for cost competitiveness.
Despite the success of the launch, Harrison pointed out that Blue Origin’s journey to this point has been lengthy, with the rocket originally expected to be ready in 2020 after over a decade of development. However, he emphasized that the company is still in a “strong position” to secure the number-two spot in the market. If Blue Origin can quickly design an even larger vehicle, it may be able to compete with SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket, although operationalizing New Glenn remains the priority.
The mission on Thursday was the first of two certification flights required before Blue Origin can commence national-security missions. It’s important to note that certification is not guaranteed immediately following the second flight; for instance, ULA has yet to receive certification for its second Vulcan certification flight conducted in October, which has delayed two planned national-security launches.
Once New Glenn earns certification, it will be positioned to bid for lucrative contracts to launch military and spy satellites into space. The Pentagon announced in June that Blue Origin, ULA, and SpaceX would compete for $5.6 billion worth of contracts over the next four years.
Additionally, New Glenn is essential for supporting Amazon’s Kuiper project, which aims to deploy a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit to provide high-speed internet and compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
