Jeff Bezos is set to launch his ‘Blue Origin’ New Glenn Rocket into space in a bid to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX which has dominated space travel in recent years.
About The Blue Origin Rocket Initiative
The Blue Origin rocket is operated by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, a private aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded in 2000 to enable millions of people to live and work in space. The rocket was built using reusable rocket technology to reduce costs and increase accessibility to space exploration.
New Glenn Rocket
The New Glenn rocket is an orbital-class rocket named after astronaut John Glenn. It is designed for heavy payloads and is equipped with a reusable first stage. The rocket aims to support satellite launches and deep-space missions.
The 320-foot-tall (98 meters) New Glenn, which Blue Origin has been developing for about a decade, features a reusable first stage, like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and is Blue Origin’s first orbital-class rocket.
Series of Launch Postponements
The New Glenn rocket was initially scheduled to launch on January 10 and then January 12 in a mission called NG-1, but Blue Origin postponed it due to rough offshore weather that could affect the rocket landing on the company’s recovery ship in the Atlantic.
Blue Origin also had to call off the launch its latest launch attempt on Monday morning citing technical issues as mission teams faced “anomalies” in a vehicle subsystem, prompting the decision to stand down from the scheduled launch.
“We’re troubleshooting a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window,” Blue Origin stated.
Competition With SpaceX
Blue Origin currently lags behind Space X in operational orbital rocket launches after Space X launched the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy into space for exploration. Space X has also been winning in the battle for government contracts and with Elon Musk’s affiliation to the corridors of power, Space X looks set to continually edge the battle for government contracts.
While SpaceX is the clear leader in orbital launches and interplanetary ambitions, Blue Origin is carving a niche in suborbital tourism and aims to compete in orbital and lunar markets, hence the desire to ensure the New Glenn rocket is successfully launched.