20.01.2025
Spectators on Saturday watched as Jacklyn, Blue Origin's rocket landing vessel, returned to Port Canaveral just as it left.
New Glenn’s first-stage booster, called So You're Telling Me There's a Chance, was no where to be seen. Blue Origin had confirmed post-launch that the booster had been lost, however it was unknown if anything remained of that booster.
New Glenn took off on its inaugural flight early Thursday from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36. The vehicle completed its main goal, which was to successfully reach orbit. Landing the first-stage booster would have been an added bonus.
Post-launch, the company unsuccessfully attempted a landing of the rocket's first-stage on the Jacklyn vessel, which is named for founder Jeff Bezos' mother.
No space company has ever landed the first-stage of a rocket on the first attempt. It took SpaceX years to successfully land the first-stage of its Falcon 9 − something that has become routine now for the workhorse rocket.
“We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring. Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone,” said Blue Origin's CEO Dave Limp in an email sent to media post launch.
Landing the first-stage booster would give Blue Origin reusability, which allows a space company to bring down costs per launch. So far, SpaceX is the only company which has successfully landed and reused the first-stage of an orbital rocket. It was just recently that a SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage reached 25 flights.
Blue Origin already successfully lands its single-stage sub-orbital rocket − named New Shepard − in Texas. They aspire to join the ranks of orbital reusability with New Glenn.
This week’s New Glenn launch was a test of the rocket, and also a flight to certify it to carry Department of Defense missions. Its payload was a a pathfinder of Blue Origin's Blue Ring. Blue Ring is planned to be an orbiting platform which will host spacecrafts and satellites.
There is currently no next launch date for this new rocket, however it is expected to launch NASA's ESCAPDE mission to Mars during the spring.
Quelle: Florida Today