New Delhi: Elon Musk recently congratulated Jeff Bezos on Blue Origin’s big achievement: the first successful flight of their New Glenn rocket. Musk shared his praise on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @JeffBezos.” They also embrace each other as billionaires despite being arch rivals in the space business.
The New Glenn rocket, which was christened after the first American astronaut who orbited around Earth, came off a launchpad in Florida, which has for long been used for NASA launches. The rocket shaped building which stands at a height of 320 ft (98m) is a launch pad for satellite and other related merchandise. This panel’s release is a massive step in the right direction for Blue Origin, in which Bezos has bought deep into for years.
On its first adventure into space, New Glenn carried and launched a prototype satellite into orbit. Blue Origin also took to social media to announce that the rocket’s second stage performed a parabolic arc, and the payload achieved orbit. The mission took approximately six hours, in which the second stage has been maneuvered to the high orbit in order to prevent formation of space debris, full compliance with NASA safety measures.
While the launch was successful the event was not without a few minor glitches. About the first-stage booster, intended to land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean for a reuse, did not reach the drop zone. However, what of Blue Origin; although it lost control during the launch process, it was quick to capitalize on the fact that the satellites made it to orbit. Mars mission launch commentator Ariane Cornell brought the emotion up to say, “What a fantastic day.”
The specific flight had been cancelled on Monday because ice was forming in some important systems, but this problem had been solved. After the successful launch of the New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin sees a significant achievement. It is not only intended for satellite launches, but is set up to contain humans one day and the rumour is it could go to the moon.
Blue Originals was established 25 years ago but has been taking paying passengers on short suborbital flights this year.These flights included Jeff Bezos himself aboard smaller rockets named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Compared to those smaller rockets, New Glenn is much bigger and built for more ambitious missions.
