Blue Origin reaches orbit with New Glenn maiden flight, but misses booster recovery

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket successfully reached its intended orbit on its first launch attempt. It also marked the first time that a Blue Origin spacecraft was able to reach orbit.

Driving the news: 

• On January 16, 2025, at 2:03 a.m. EST, New Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 
• The 320-foot tall rocket was powered by seven BE-4 engines. 
• After two successful burns of the BE-3U engines, the rocket’s second stage hit its target orbit.
• As per Blue Origin in a post on its official website, the Blue Ring Pathfinder is now collecting data and performing well.
• However, New Glenn’s booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, was lost during its descent back to Earth.

New Glenn safely reached its intended orbit during today’s NG-1 mission, accomplishing our primary objective. The second stage is in its final orbit following two successful burns of the BE-3U engines. The Blue Ring Pathfinder is receiving data and performing well.

We lost the… pic.twitter.com/MmDlCb6AVj

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) January 16, 2025

What they’re saying:

• “I’m incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt. We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was ambitious. We’ll learn from this and try again this spring,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp stated.
• “Today marks a new era for Blue Origin and for commercial space. We’re focused on ramping our launch cadence and manufacturing rates. My heartfelt thanks to everyone at Blue Origin for the tremendous amount of work in making today’s success possible, and to our customers and the space community for their continuous support. We felt that immensely today,” Jarrett Jones, Senior Vice President of New Glenn noted.
• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated Blue Origin on New Glenn’s successful maiden flight. “Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @jeffbezos,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @JeffBezos https://t.co/EJl6L8aevV

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

Why it matters:

• New Glenn is central to Blue Origin’s vision for space exploration. The spacecraft is expected to support NASA’s Artemis program with both cargo and crewed lunar landers.
• The rocket will also advance in-space resource utilization and multi-orbit mobility.
• Blue Origin expects New Glenn to be crucial for establishing a human presence on the Moon.

What’s next:

• Multiple New Glenn vehicles are already in production.
• Blue Origin has secured orders for years ahead from NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, and various telecom providers.
• Blue Origin is also in the process of certifying New Glenn with the U.S. Space Force for national security launches.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

The post Blue Origin reaches orbit with New Glenn maiden flight, but misses booster recovery appeared first on TESLARATI.