Blue Origin Successfully Launches New Glenn Rocket, Falls Short on First Stage Landing

The two-stage rocket, nicknamed “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,” lifted off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 2:03 a.m. ET. The rocket is named after John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, and aims to carry payloads into orbit and beyond, including NASA's Human Landing Systems for lunar exploration.

A Step Towards Certification

 The primary objective of this mission, designated New Glenn-1 (NG-1), was to achieve orbit as part of two certification flights required by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to qualify the rocket for high-value national security payloads. Blue Origin successfully achieved this goal. However, the secondary goal—landing the rocket’s reusable first stage on a barge named "Jacklyn," after founder Jeff Bezos’s mother—did not succeed.
Approximately 7 minutes and 30 seconds after launch, three of the seven BE-4 engines on the first stage reignited as planned. However, a data loss during the webcast left the public in the dark about the final moments of the landing attempt. Blue Origin President David Limp acknowledged the setback, calling the landing attempt “an ambitious goal” for the maiden flight and expressing optimism about trying again in the spring.

Payload and Mission Goals

This inaugural flight carried only one payload: Blue Origin’s proprietary Blue Ring Pathfinder. Secured inside the rocket’s 7-meter payload fairing, the satellite was not intended to separate during this test mission. Blue Origin confirmed it was successfully receiving data from the payload.
The Blue Ring Pathfinder is part of the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Orbital Logistics Vehicle project. When fully operational, Blue Ring is expected to provide end-to-end services, including hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics. The system also boasts an “in-space edge computing capability,” showcasing Blue Origin’s ambitions to lead in orbital logistics and infrastructure.

New Glenn’s Capabilities

The New Glenn rocket is designed to carry up to 45 metric tons (MT) to low Earth orbit or 13 MT to geostationary transfer orbit. It is also capable of delivering payloads to the Moon, making it a versatile vehicle for both commercial and government missions. In addition to its payload capacity, New Glenn will play a critical role in NASA’s Artemis program.
Blue Origin, alongside SpaceX, holds a contract to develop Human Landing Systems for NASA. While SpaceX will handle the initial lunar landings for Artemis III and IV, Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander is set to debut with Artemis V, which will further NASA’s goal of sustainable lunar exploration.
Despite the setback with the first-stage landing, the successful orbital flight of New Glenn represents a major achievement for Blue Origin as it expands beyond its suborbital New Shepard rocket, which has been carrying passengers and payloads on brief spaceflights. The company plans to refine its landing techniques and attempt another launch in the coming months.

By Azhar