Home Tech Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket takes off in challenge to Musk’s SpaceX

Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket takes off in challenge to Musk’s SpaceX

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Bezos' Blue Origin rocket takes off in challenge to Musk's SpaceX

Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket lifted off from Florida on its first mission to space, a maiden step toward Earth orbit for Jeff Bezos’ space company, which aims to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch business. .

Thirty stories tall and with a reusable first stage filled with liquid oxygen and methane, New Glenn launched around 2 a.m. ET (0700 GMT) from Blue Origin’s launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station under a cloudy sky on his second attempt this week.

The rocket’s first launch attempt on Monday was canceled because ice had built up in a propellant line. On Thursday, the company did not mention any problems ahead of the launch.

Hundreds of employees had gathered for the launch at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Washington, and at its rocket factory at Cape Canaveral in Florida, a company livestream showed.

The public on Florida’s east coast applauded from parks and campgrounds several miles from the launch pad during liftoff.

The mission is the culmination of a decade-long, multimillion-dollar development journey that includes an attempt to land the New Glenn’s first stage booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after liftoff, while the second stage of the rocket continues towards orbit. .

Secured inside New Glenn’s payload bay is the first prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft that the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for national security missions and satellite servicing.

Getting the spacecraft into its intended orbit in the inaugural rocket launch would be a rare achievement for a space company.

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