Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Safely Made It To Space A Second Time

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has completed its 2nd flight, The Washington Post reports. The rocket launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station connected Thursday, and successfully separated from its first-stage booster, which later landed connected a oversea level Blue Origin calls "Jacklyn."

The motorboat marks nan first clip nan abstraction startup has been capable to drawback a New Glenn booster for later reuse. The maiden flight of nan rocket successful January was successful successful nan consciousness that it sewage New Glenn into space, but Blue Origin wasn't capable to prevention nan booster from a watery grave. The institution hoped to motorboat its 2nd New Glenn ngo connected November 9, but cancelled it past infinitesimal owed to weather.

New Glenn's 2nd ngo is besides notable because of its payload: The rocket ferried NASA satellites to abstraction that are destined for Mars arsenic portion of nan agency's ESCAPADE mission. Considering SpaceX's adjacent narration pinch NASA, Blue Origin moving pinch nan agency could beryllium an important ballot of confidence.

It could besides mean New Glenn is successful a bully position to thief different institution founded by Jeff Bezos accelerate its outer plans. The Post writes that Blue Origin has an existing statement pinch Amazon to motorboat its precocious rebranded Amazon Leo satellites into space. Leo is positioned arsenic a competitor to Starlink, SpaceX's outer net service.

While SpaceX has completed many much launches pinch its Starship rocket than Blue Origin has, it's besides had much than a fewer explosive failures on nan way. Blue Origin still needs much missions nether its belt, but if it tin repetition its occurrence pinch New Glenn, it could beryllium to beryllium a threat to SpaceX.