Animation: Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and its journey into space
This animated video shows the launch of Blue Origin’s future New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with the launch vehicle landing on a ship.
Blue Origin
For their highly anticipated maiden mission, Blue Origin crews are now aiming for October 13 as the earliest possible launch date for the first large New Glenn rocket from the Cape Canaveral space station.
The historic launch will introduce the world to New Glenn, Blue Origin’s 320-foot-tall heavy-lift rocket, which is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 36, a reconstruction the space company has invested more than a billion dollars in.
Launch Complex 36 is within sight of the Cocoa Beach shoreline. In the coming months, Blue Origin officials plan to launch New Glenns with payloads for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation, as well as for NASA, Telesat and Eutelsa. Company officials will also seek approval for Space Force national security missions.
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Mars payload will launch on New Glenn’s maiden flight
The payload on board the first rocket mission: ESCAPADE, NASA’s twin spacecraft Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers. These small spacecraft will fly to Mars and study the transfer of solar wind energy in the Martian magnetosphere.
Blue Origin has remained largely secretive, revealing few details about its rocket development program. New buildings are currently being constructed at the company’s sprawling rocket manufacturing facility south of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, nine miles from LC-36.
The company caused a stir last month when a 200-foot-tall model of the New Glenn’s first stage went vertical at Port Canaveral.
“The fairing is large enough to accommodate three school buses. The reusable first stage is designed for at least 25 missions and will land on a sea-based platform approximately 1,000 km away. Reusability is an essential part of radically reducing the cost per launch,” Blue Origin said in a February press release.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a space reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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