Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy rocket lifts off for the first time

Here's What's New About It

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has been lifted onto the launch pad for the first time in preparation for its maiden flight this year. The spaceflight company, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, published a photo showing the rocket on the pad at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Blue Origin described the launch pad location as part of a test campaign that will allow its teams to train, verify and improve skills in vehicle integration, transportation, ground support and launch. It will remain on the launch pad for approximately one week.

It was noted that the Kennedy test does 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 rocket has a height of about 320 feet (98 metres). It contains a seven-metre payload fairing with twice the volume of standard five-metre commercial launch systems. To put this in perspective, the fairing is large enough to hold 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.

Source: Digital Trends