The successful flight to orbit of the Amazon founder’s powerful rocket suggests it could grow into a credible competitor with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Bezos’ space company Blue Origin started at about the same time as Musk’s SpaceX but since then Musk’s firm has launched more than 400 of its Falcon 9 rockets into orbit and is testing out its giant Starship rocket which it hopes will send astronauts to the Moon and one day possibly on to Mars.
The reusable spacecraft had been due to take off from Florida but the launch was halted as anomalies were detected after the countdown began
Founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos ... New Glenn is named after the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn. It is five times taller than Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket that carries paying ...
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was initially scheduled to launch early Monday with a prototype satellite aboard.
Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida following a hold-up on Monday.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin achieved a major milestone in the satellite launch industry early Thursday morning with the successful maiden flight of its New Glenn rocket, named after astronaut John ...