Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Launches Massive New Glenn Rocket into Orbit on 1st Flight (Video)

On January 16, 2025By Littum

COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket just got its wings.

New Glenn launched for the first time ever this morning (Jan. 16), rising from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here on Florida’s Space Coast at 2:03 AM EST (0703 GMT). About 12.5 minutes later, the rocket’s upper stage reached orbit — the main goal of today’s test flight, which the company called NG-1.

“We have to orbit safely,” Ariane Cornell, vice president of in-space systems at Blue Origin, said in the company’s launch webcast. “Congratulations, everyone. What a day!”

a white rocket shoots into a dark night sky — Blue Origin will launch its first New Glenn rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 16, 2025. (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

Blue Origin also attempted to land New Glenn’s reusable first stage on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean, nicknamed Jacklyn, after company founder Jeff Bezos’ mother. The booster managed to ignite three of its engines in a reentry burn as planned, but it did not stick the landing.

“We didn’t have a booster landing, but man, we came close,” Cornell said. “We’ve collected so much data.”

A successful landing would have been something of a surprise; the company had repeatedly stressed in the run-up to the launch that this was a secondary goal that was unlikely to be achieved on the NG-1.

Related: Blue Origin: Everything you need to know about the private space company

Like many rockets, the 320-foot-tall (98-meter) New Glenn took a long way to the launch pad. Its first flight was originally expected to take place in 2020, but development of the rocket’s powerful BE-4 first-stage engines slowed the timeline.

There were slightly more delays on the home stretch. Today’s launch was originally scheduled for January 10, but Blue Origin pushed things back 72 hours due to rough seas in the expected landing area for the booster. A launch attempt on Jan. 13 was scrubbed due to ice buildup in one of the rocket’s power units, and Blue Origin then pushed the next attempt back to this morning.

split screen showing two crowds of people clapping during a rocket launch

Blue Origin employees in Kent, Washington (left) and Huntsville, Alabama, cheer as the company’s New Glenn rocket launches for the first time. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

New Glenn’s reusable first stage could help it compete with SpaceX’s venerable Falcon 9, the world’s first reusable orbital-class rocket. Blue Origin aims to launch each New Glenn booster at least 25 times and already has customers ranging from NASA, various US government agencies, AST SpaceMobile and other telecommunications companies.

New Glenn has also been tapped to help launch Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet satellites, which could become a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation. Amazon already has a license to launch over 3,000 Kuiper satellites.

Both Blue Origin and Amazon were founded by Bezos, who has flown into suborbital space aboard the company’s smaller New Shepard space tourism rocket.

New Glenn is capable of carrying 50 tons (45 tons) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, which also has reusable first-stage boosters, can lift about 70 tons (64 tons) to LEO.

If all goes according to plan, NG-1 will help certify the rocket for the US Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which pairs US military and intelligence spacecraft with commercial launch providers. NSSL launches also include GPS, communications and weather satellites that provide data and services to the US government.

New Glenn was originally planned to launch NASA’s twin ESCAPADE Mars probes on NG-1, but the space agency decided to delay the mission until the rocket proved worthy of flight. ESCAPADE is now scheduled to launch in spring 2025 at the earliest.

Flying aboard New Glenn’s first mission was instead a test version of Blue Origin’s upcoming “Blue Ring” spacecraft.

A Blue Origin Blue Ring payload pathfinder with its massive rocket casing.

The Blue Origin Blue Ring Pathfinder payload with its massive rocket casing that flew on the company’s first New Glenn rocket. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

This “Blue Ring Pathfinder” demonstrator is designed to validate Blue Ring’s communications, in-space data collection, tracking and command systems while still attached to New Glenn’s second stage, Blue Origin wrote in a an NG-1 mission statement in December 2024. Such data collection will last about six hours on NG-1, if all goes according to plan.

This debut flight will help Blue Origin refine and develop the production version of the spacecraft for future missions. Blue Ring is being developed as part of the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Orbital Logistics Program. DIU is an organization of the US Department of Defense that aims to develop and deploy new technologies for national security.

a cube-shaped spacecraft with two long wing-like solar panels in orbit above the earth

An illustration of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring spacecraft in Earth orbit. The Blue Ring Pathfinder prototype that flew on the NG-1 was not designed to separate from the rocket. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

To that end, Blue Origin is developing Blue Ring to meet DIU’s need for a “heavy utility multi-orbit logistic vehicle” or m-OLV. Blue Ring, or whatever vehicle is ultimately chosen to fill that role, will be designed to provide “low-cost, responsive access to geostationary (GEO) and other exotic orbits beyond low Earth orbit,” according to one DIU statement.

In other words, the Blue Ring will act as a platform for other satellites. It will be able to carry about 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) across 13 different payload adapters.

The spacecraft will be capable of carrying payloads to geostationary orbit, cislunar orbit (orbits close to and around the moon) and even interplanetary orbits, according to a Blue description of origin.

That’s all future work though. The immediate message from today’s flight is that a powerful new orbital-class rocket has proven itself in flight.

“The next era of spaceflight on Blue Origin is upon us,” Cornell said to close the NG-1 launch webcast. “We look forward to seeing you soon at our next launch. We’re just getting started.”