Blue Origin, the space technology company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched its New Glenn rocket for the first time on Jan. 15, sending a prototype satellite into orbit thousands of miles above Earth.
Named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, the 320-foot-tall, two-stage rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:03 a.m. ET under cloudy skies.
The culmination of a decade-long, multi-billion-dollar development journey, the rocket is fitted with a reusable first-stage booster filled with liquid oxygen and methane.
Secured inside its payload bay is the prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft that the company hopes to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for satellite servicing missions....
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