And NASA recently made New Glenn eligible to compete for contracts under the agency's Launch Services II program, which applies to launches through December 2027. The company has already scored New Glenn launch contracts with Eutelsat, Mu Space, OneWeb, Sky Perfect JSAT and Telesat, as Space News noted. (New Shepard is not yet operational, but its first crewed spaceflights could happen soon.)īlue Origin continues to make good progress on New Glenn and its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, company representatives wrote in today's update. One New Shepard vehicle has flown seven uncrewed test flights, acing its landing each time.

For example, the company's New Shepard rocket-capsule combo, which is designed to take people and payloads to suborbital space, is fully reusable. Such reuse is key to Blue Origin's overall vision, which involves helping humanity extend its footprint out into the final frontier. Shortly after liftoff, the booster will come back to Earth and land on a ship at sea, as we've already seen the first stages of SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets do. Bezos has said he hopes New Glenn will fly people as well as payloads.Įach New Glenn first stage will be capable of launching 25 missions, Blue Origins representatives say. The rocket will be capable of launching 50 tons (45 metric tons) to low Earth orbit when it's up and running, according to its specifications page.

Blue origin new glenn rocket