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Jeff Bezos ’ spacefaring company Blue Origin on Thursday launched its newfangled mega - Eruca sativa , called New Glenn , into sphere for the first time .
The rocketlifted offat 2:03 a.m. ET on January 16 from Cape Canaveral , Florida , and spoil the official boundary into outer space a few minute later . before long after , a 2nd - stage burn mark placed the arugula ’s upper discussion section into orbit around the Earth .
While it was the rocket engine ’s initiative launch , a number of thing went decently , and the society had said that reaching orbit safely was its main objective . However , the roquette ’s first stage exploded on the agency back down to Earth as Blue Origin attempted to land that section on a drone ship at ocean . The company hopes to found again this spring , and plansas many as eightNew Glenn establish this class .
“ I ’m unbelievably proud New Glenn achieve orbit on its first endeavour , ” Dave Limp , former Amazon executive and CEO of Blue Origin , said in a financial statement . “ We knew landing our admirer , ‘ So You ’re recount Me There ’s a Chance , ’ on the first attempt was an ambitious finish . We ’ll get word a portion from today and try again at our next launch this spring . Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone . ”
The successful launch kicks off a new epoch for Blue Origin , which until now has been dumbfound with a rocket ( called New Shepard ) that is not contrive to go into orbit , which limit its utility . Blue Origin needs New Glenn to follow in rules of order to build a solid launch business and take on Elon Musk ’s SpaceX , which has dominated the diligence in recent years .
Firstrevealed in 2016 , New Glenn stands 320 foot tall and is powered by seven BE-4 engines , which Blue Origin also designed . The company ab initio hoped to plunge the mega - rocket as early on as 2021 , but the pricy exploitation process took longer than expected . Along the way , Blue Origin spent metre locked in legal battles withNASA and SpaceXover launching declaration , and was accused ofcutting corners on safetybymultiple employees .
Blue Origin now hopes to utilise New Glenn to establish planet and other space vehicle , include some that it is design for the moon . The company already has contracts with NASA , the Space Force , Amazon ’s Project Kuiper , and others .
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It also hope to one sidereal day launchastronauts to the moonas part of NASA ’s Artemis project . That said , NASA ’s focus is always wobble with the political breaking wind , and Musk — who has forged a thick kinship with incoming president Donald Trump — hassaidthe “ Moon is a misdirection . ”
Bezostold the mechanical press this weekthat he retrieve there ’s room for “ multiple winners ” in the industry .
