The Very Long Wait for Jeff Bezos’ Big Rocket Is Coming to an End
The foundational building block for Jeff Bezos’ space dreams is finally ready to launch. A New Glenn rocket, built by Blue Origin, is sitting on a launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, ready to head to space for the first time. The rocket is as tall as a 32-story building and can carry larger satellites and payloads than other rockets in operation today.
The highly anticipated debut of New Glenn comes as Elon Musk’s SpaceX dominates the rocket business, launching its Falcon 9 rockets once every few days. However, companies and governments are wary of relying on one company and are keen for a viable competitor.
New Glenn is likely to inject competition into the rocket business, making it a more healthy market. The rocket is larger than SpaceX’s current workhorse, the Falcon 9, but not as big as Starship, the fully reusable rocket system SpaceX is currently developing.
Blue Origin is also working on a private space station called Orbital Reef, a lunar lander for NASA called Blue Moon, and a space tug called Blue Ring, which can move satellites around in Earth orbit.
Jeff Bezos’ other company, Amazon, also has big space plans. Project Kuiper, a constellation of internet satellites, will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink network.
The 21st-century space age is often depicted as a race of billionaires rather than nations, but so far it has not been a race at all. SpaceX has been launching its Falcon 9 rockets once every few days, while Blue Origin has yet to put anything in orbit.
However, with the debut of New Glenn, the space age may be about to change. The rocket’s first flight is scheduled for as early as 1 a.m. on January 12, and if successful, it will mark a significant milestone for the company.
The reusable boosters of the New Glenn rocket aim to be designed to launch at least 25 times, which will help Blue Origin compete with SpaceX on price. The company is also working on a pathfinder for its space tug, Blue Ring, which will be used to move satellites around in Earth orbit.
The future of space travel and exploration is vast and ambitious, and the debut of New Glenn marks an important step towards making it a reality.