Can Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket challenge SpaceX's dominance?

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has finally taken flight, marking a defining moment for Jeff Bezos’ space company as it seeks to challenge SpaceX’s dominance in the space launch industry.

Named after astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, New Glenn represents years of development and billions of dollars in investment.

This heavy-lift rocket is set to make a significant impact on satellite launches, space exploration, and the broader aerospace market with its innovative features and focus on reusability.

A long-awaited liftoff

In the early hours of Thursday, New Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, marking Blue Origin’s first orbital mission. The 320-foot-tall rocket illuminated the predawn skies of Florida, powered by seven BE-4 engines producing 3.8 million pounds of thrust.

The successful deployment of its second stage into orbit was met with thunderous applause from employees at Blue Origin’s facilities. “We hit our key, critical, number-one objective, we got to orbit safely,” said Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s VP of in-space systems, during the company’s live broadcast.

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The rocket carried a prototype payload, the Blue Ring Pathfinder, designed to demonstrate capabilities for satellite hosting and deployment. The mission aimed to test the spacecraft’s operational systems over six hours, with the second stage eventually being placed in a stable orbit to minimise space debris, in line with Nasa’s guidelines.

However, the reusable first-stage booster failed to land on its barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

The attempt to recover the booster, named So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, was described as ambitious by Cornell, who noted that while the landing would have been a bonus, the primary goal was achieving orbit.

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Why Blue Origin’s New Glenn is unique

New Glenn enters a competitive market dominated by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, but it offers distinctive advantages. Its massive payload fairing, measuring 23 feet in diameter, is twice as large as those of many other rockets in its class.

This spacious design enables it to carry larger or more complex payloads, such as satellite constellations or scientific instruments.

“I remember walking underneath [New Glenn’s payload fairing], and it was just such a huge space,” Scientific American quoted Clay Mowry, CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “It brings a lot of capability to the heavy-lift end of the marketplace.”

Reusability is another cornerstone of New Glenn’s design. The rocket’s first-stage booster is engineered for at least 25 flights, aligning with Blue Origin’s vision of lowering costs and increasing sustainability in space operations. “Reusability is the future of launch,” Mowry stated.

What Blue Origin hopes to achieve with New Glenn

Blue Origin aims to use New Glenn not only for commercial ventures but also for groundbreaking scientific missions. Nasa has already secured the rocket for several projects, including the ESCAPADE spacecraft, which will orbit Mars, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope designed to search for signs of life on exoplanets.

With its enormous cargo capacity, New Glenn could simplify the deployment of large space instruments. The rocket’s roomy payload fairing reduces the need for complex folding mechanisms like those used for Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope, potentially making future missions more efficient and less risky.

As Lori Garver, Nasa’s former deputy administrator, noted, competition in the launch market fosters innovation and drives down costs. “This rocket, with the goal of reusability and the overly large fairing, is a unique new addition that I think people are genuinely hopeful for,” she said.

Can New Glenn compete with SpaceX?

The increasing demand for satellite launches positions New Glenn as a critical player in the aerospace market. Companies like Amazon, with its Project Kuiper satellite network, and other firms developing mega constellations, such as OneWeb and Telesat, stand to benefit from the rocket’s capabilities.

By accommodating larger batches of satellites, New Glenn can reduce launch costs and improve efficiency for constellation deployments. “When you’re deploying a constellation of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of satellites, this is a huge cost driver,” Mowry explained.

Blue Origin’s efforts to increase access to space align with its broader mission of enabling “millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth.”

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While the rocket faces competition from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and the upcoming Starship, it offers unique features that could reshape the industry.

With a backlog of commercial and scientific missions, including up to 27 launches for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, New Glenn is poised to become a major player in the space economy.

With inputs from agencies