One of the key questions about Blue Origin is whether it will push toward full reusability with New Glenn. In 2021, Ars first reported on an effort codenamed "Project Jarvis" to develop a stainless steel upper stage that could be reused. The company even built a test tank, although the effort was eventually shelved.
Going forward, SpaceX is likely to offer its gigantic Starship rocket as a competitor to New Glenn, and here, the advantage shifts back to SpaceX. Bigger than New Glenn (120 meters tall versus 98) and with a wider faring to encapsulate cargo (9 meters versus 7), SpaceX's Starship will boast a massive payload advantage over Blue Origin's new rocket.
Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin joined the billionaire’s space race in earnest when its New Glenn rocket roared from a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Jan. 16. The second stage with the Blue Ring payload successfully reached orbit. However, an attempt to land the first stage on a drone ship failed.
Blue Origin has shared a video recap of last week's maiden launch of the New Glenn, including dramatic close-up footage of the rocket leaving the launchpad.
Just past 2 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space company that has big ambitions.
Blue Origin is key to Amazon's ability to compete with SpaceX Starlink. Jeff Bezos has finally done it. He's finally reached space with an honest-to-goodness orbital-class rocket. Ten years ago, Bezos ignited a feud with SpaceX founder Elon Musk when his Blue Origin rocket company launched a suborbital New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then landed it back on Earth.
Spectators on Saturday watched as Jacklyn, Blue Origin's rocket landing vessel, returned to Port Canaveral just as it left.
If we're being frank, which is how we roll in the Rocket Report, some of Orbex's recent activity does not inspire confidence. The company, for example, suspended plans to develop a spaceport at Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands to focus resources on developing the Prime microlauncher.
John Oberst, head of Alaska Aerospace, went on the "Today" show to discuss what is being described as a “traffic jam” at the country’s spaceports.
Blue Origin scrubbed a planned launch of its New Shepard rocket Tuesday due to persistent cloud cover at the west Texas launch site.
NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland has ties to Tuesday morning's Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launch from the company's launch site in West Texas.
Could the moon become a hub for unlimited solar energy? Blue Origin’s latest breakthrough might make it possible. Find out more about their New Glenn rocket and recent space phenomena.