New Glenn: Blue Origin Finally Debuts its New Rocket

On Feb.21, the US company Blue Origin finally showed the world its future heavy-lift launch vehicle on the pad. For the first time, a full pathfinder of the New Glenn rocket was rolled out and placed vertically at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 (LC-36).

*New Glenn vertical on the pad at LC-36. Credits: Blue Origin*

Now the vehicle will remain vertical at the pad for at least a week to conduct the first test campaign. During this week, the cryogenic fluid load, pressure control, and venting system of the rocket will be tested. These tests will enable the Blue Origin teams to practice and consolidate launch and vehicle integration operations, as well as to test the ground systems and the launch pad.

The pathfinder vehicle is without the BE-4 engines, which are undergoing separate testing at Launch Site One in Texas. Recently, the first hot-fire test was conducted at the historic Test Stand 4670 in Huntsville.

It seems that the path to the inaugural flight of New Glenn is finally gaining momentum and a lot of concreteness. Officially, Blue Origin is aiming for liftoff towards the end of the year.

A long low-key journey

For a long time, the development path of New Glenn has been lengthy, shrouded in secrecy, with few signs of progress and numerous delays. The first flight has been postponed every year since 2020.

Certainly, Jeff Bezos’ company’s attitude has led to project progress far from the eyes of the media and the curious. A decidedly different approach compared to SpaceX, often portraying the two companies as strong rivals. However, in the last year, we have seen a decisive and exponential change from Blue Origin, a sign that we are now truly approaching the debut of this new vehicle.

Blue Origin's CEO and founder, Dave Limp and Jeff Bezos, admiring the New Glenn on the pad. Credits: Jeff Bezos via Instagram — *Blue Origin’s CEO and founder, Dave Limp and Jeff Bezos, admiring the New Glenn on the pad. Credits: Jeff Bezos via Instagram*

Back in February 2023, Blue Origin was awarded by NASA the launch of the Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission, on board the first launch of New Glenn. A strong signal of confidence from the US space agency.

In August, the company shared a rare image inside their factory at Kennedy Space Center, showing several pieces of hardware including interstage components and parts of propellant tanks. During the last months, some hardware elements were spotted moving around Blue Origin facilities, suggesting that Blue Origin is producing several vehicles for its test campaigns. Finally, on Feb. 13, 2024, a simulator hardware of stages 1 and 2 was raised at LC-36 ahead of the pathfinder’s rollout.

New Glenn's first and second stage mated tocheter for the first time. Credits: Blue Origin — *New Glenn’s first and second stage mated together for the first time. Credits: Blue Origin*

On Jan. 8 the successful first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket certified the reliability and performance of the two BE-4 engines, which powered the first stage of the rocket. The mission carried Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander.

About New Glenn

New Glenn is a two-stage next-generation heavy-lift rocket developed by Blue Origin, named after NASA’s astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The design work started in 2012 with various modifications to the project until 2021 when the final design was unveiled.

The New Glenn will be 98 m tall, being one of the biggest rockets ever built. According to Blue Origin, the vehicle will be able to carry up to 13 metric tons of payload to GTO and 45 metric tons to LEO.

The reusable first stage is powered by seven BE-4 Lox/LNG engines that produce 17,000 kN of thrust at liftoff. The booster is designed to land on a floating platform located 1000 km downrange and to be reused for a minimum of 25 missions. The upper stage, designed for highly energetic missions, is powered by two BE-3U Lox/LH2 engines derived from New Shepard’s BE-3. In 2021, the company started the Project Jarvis program, aiming to develop a reusable second stage, essential to compete with SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle.

New Glenn's secon stage with its BE-3U engines. Credits: David Limp/ Blue Origin — *New Glenn’s secon stage with its BE-3U engines. Credits: David Limp/ Blue Origin*

The seven-meter fairing has twice the volume of traditional five-meter class fairings. Designed to carry bigger payloads like orbital platforms and bigger constellations, like Bezos’ Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation. New Glenn has been selected by Intelsat to launch its global LEO constellation.

Blue Origin also plans to launch landers to the Moon, like their Blue Moon Cargo/Crew Lander already selected by NASA for the Artemis V mission.