Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy rocket lifts off for the first time
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was lifted to the launch pad for the first time in preparation for its maiden flight this year. A spaceflight company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has released a photo showing a rocket at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Blue Origin described the location of the launch site as part of a test campaign that will allow its teams to practice, test and improve their skills in vehicle integration, transportation, ground support and launch. It will remain on the launcher for about a week.
It was noted that the tests at JFK do not require the BE-4 New Glenn engines, which have been hot-fired at NASA’s Huntsville, Alabama, facility and at Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site.
The new missile has a height of about 320 feet (98 meters). It contains a seven-meter payload fairing with twice the volume of standard five-meter commercial launch systems. To put this in perspective, the fairing is large enough to accommodate three school buses.
Its reusable first stage should be suitable for at least 25 missions and, like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, will land on a sea-based platform after launch.
