Blue Origin, owned by Bezos, completes its first NASA launch mission, with the "New Glenn" rocket booster landing safely

Bezos's Blue Origin LLC took a key step towards its space development goals on Thursday, successfully launching its orbital-class rocket "New Glenn" for the first time, deploying two NASA probes bound for Mars, and successfully landing the rocket's booster. Analysts say this is a significant breakthrough for Blue Origin in its competition with SpaceX.

The approximately 320-foot (97.5-meter) rocket roared to life from the launch pad at 3:55 PM Eastern Time. Minutes after launch, the rocket's lower stage separated from the upper stage, which continued into space. The rocket's booster then returned to Earth, slowing down through ignition and successfully landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

At the moment the booster landed on the barge, the mission control center erupted in cheers and applause. Amazon founder Bezos stood alongside Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, surrounded by excited employees.

Blue Origin's launch commentator Tabitha Lipkin said during the live broadcast:

"We did it, we are officially in the race, we have a reusable booster, and this is just the beginning."

Prior to this, only Elon Musk's SpaceX had achieved a vertical landing of a booster after sending a rocket to orbit.

Analysts believe that completing the booster landing is crucial because it allows the company to begin reusing boosters. Reusability can increase launch frequency and enable Blue Origin to better challenge SpaceX's dominance in the rocket launch market.

The Importance of the New Glenn Rocket

The New Glenn rocket is one of the members of the new generation of rockets, alongside the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) "Vulcan" rocket and the European Space Agency's "Ariane 6." These rockets are all seen as important competitors in the future launch market, but they still face challenges in increasing launch frequency.

The New Glenn rocket is at the core of Blue Origin's ambitious deep space plans, with the company spending about a decade developing the rocket, completing its first flight in January of this year, and then enduring a long wait of about nine months. The company is working to have the rocket regularly execute missions to handle a backlog of customer orders and advance Bezos's space ambitions Expanding the launch scale of new rockets is not easy, as engineers and technicians must learn how to manufacture and manage such complex rockets. SpaceX's Falcon 9 was first launched in June 2010, with the second launch occurring about five months later. The third Falcon 9 launch had to wait until 2012.

This mission, named "Escapade," is the second flight of the New Glenn rocket and the first mission executed for NASA. The success of this mission allows Blue Origin to potentially challenge SpaceX's dominance in the launch industry. SpaceX's Falcon 9 is the most frequently launched rocket in the world.

Minutes after the rocket's launch, Blue Origin deployed two probes manufactured by Rocket Lab into space, which will travel to Mars to study how solar wind interacts with the Martian atmosphere. These two probes will first pause at a location in space and then head to Mars when Earth and Mars are closest next year, expected to arrive in 2027.

This launch marks the first time New Glenn has sent satellites for external customers. The NASA "Escapade" mission satellites will study Mars' atmosphere, magnetic field, and conduct other measurements. This data is expected to help researchers understand why Mars lost its atmosphere and will provide references for future manned missions.

Future Plans

Limp stated in January this year that Blue Origin originally planned to conduct a second launch in late spring and achieve a total of 6 to 8 flights by 2025. In the inaugural flight of the New Glenn rocket, the rocket successfully entered orbit, but the booster did not land as planned.

Bezos mentioned earlier this year in a media interview that he hopes the company's New Glenn rocket development progresses faster, noting the company's advancements in engine and other rocket component production.

Bezos said at the time:

"These things are all moving together to increase the production pace. That's the key—it's about making machines that make machines."

Other future missions for the New Glenn rocket include providing launch services for Amazon's satellite internet constellation and executing seven national security missions for the Pentagon.

Laura Maginnis, Vice President of Mission Management for New Glenn at Blue Origin, declined to disclose how many New Glenn launches the company expects to conduct next year during a briefing on Saturday. She said:

"We have a very full task list lined up."

In early 2026, Blue Origin plans to launch a cargo spacecraft developed by the company to the Moon and attempt to land on the lunar surface. Company executives described it as a demonstration operation before undertaking customer lunar missions.

This mission will also help the company advance the lunar lander project developed for NASA astronauts. Blue Origin and SpaceX recently submitted proposals to NASA outlining how they could accelerate the development of lunar landers capable of sending astronauts to the Moon's surface. No humans have set foot on the Moon in over 50 years Blue Origin is currently sending tourists to the edge of space and back using smaller rockets, while the New Glenn rocket will enable the company to send spacecraft and satellites into orbit and even further into space. The capabilities of the New Glenn rocket are key for Blue Origin to fulfill its backlog of $10 billion in customer orders