Blue Origin successfully launched the New Glenn rocket into space

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin launched its new mega-rocket, New Glenn, into orbit for the first time.

Rocket raised At 2:03 a.m. ET on Jan. 16, it blasted off into space minutes from Cape Canaveral, Florida, crossing the official border. A short time later, the second stage burn placed the upper part of the rocket into orbit around the Earth.

Although it was the rocket’s first launch, a number of things went right, and the company said reaching orbit safely was the main goal. But when Blue Origin tried to land the part on a drone ship at sea, the rocket’s first stage exploded on landing.

“I’m incredibly proud that New Glenn reached orbit on its first try,” said Dave Limp, former Amazon executive and CEO of Blue Origin. “We knew it was an ambitious goal to land our ‘So You Tell Me You’ve Got a Chance’ amp. We will learn a lot from today and try again at our next presentation this spring. Thank you to the entire Blue Team for this incredible milestone.”

The successful launch begins a new era for Blue Origin, which until now has been stuck with a rocket (called New Shepard) that was not designed for orbit, limiting its usefulness. Blue Origin needs New Glenn to succeed to build a solid launch business to take on Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has dominated the industry in recent years.

First It was discovered in 2016New Glenn is 320 feet tall and is powered by seven BE-4 engines, also designed by Blue Origin. The company originally hoped to launch the mega-rocket in 2021. But the expensive development process took longer than expected. Along the way, he spent time locked in legal battles with Blue Origin NASA and SpaceX on launch contracts and charged cutting corners for safety by numerous employees.

Blue Origin now hopes to use New Glenn in satellites and other spacecraft it is developing for the Moon. The company already has contracts with NASA, the Space Force, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and others.

He also hopes to launch one day Astronauts on the moon As part of NASA’s Artemis project. However, NASA’s focus is always shifting with the political winds and Musk, who has developed deep ties to incoming President Donald Trump he said “The moon is a distraction.” Bezos made a statement to the press this week he thinks there is room for “multiple winners” in the industry.