Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket rises on the pad ahead of 1st launch (photo)

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The new rocket's maiden flight may be in late 2024.

a rocket in between launch towers and surrounded by night sky
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket stands stacked on the launch pad in November 2024. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

Blue Origin's powerful new orbital rocket has risen on the launch pad to prep for a debut flight that could happen soon.

New Glenn was stacked at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, which is next door to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Blue Origin has not announced an official launch date for the big new rocket, but media reports have suggested it could occur in late 2024.

"Gone vertical," Blue Origin officials wrote Thursday (Nov. 21) on X, formerly Twitter, with a photo of the rocket. The company's suborbital system, New Shepard, coincidentally made its latest flight just hours later on Friday (Nov. 22) morning with six people on board, including the 100th woman to fly to space.

Related: Blue Origin stacks huge New Glenn rocket ahead of 1st launch (photo)

The New Glenn launch is slated to carry one of the company's new Blue Ring spacecraft on a National Security Space Launch certification flight called DarkSky-1 . The U.S. Defense Innovation Unit is sponsoring the effort.

New Glenn comes in two- or three-stage variants with a fully reusable first-stage booster. The two-stage version is 270 feet (82 meters) tall, while the three-stage variant is 313 feet (95 m) tall. For comparison: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is between 209 feet (63.7 m) and 230 feet (70 m) tall, depending on its payload.

RELATED STORIES:

—  Blue Origin fires up 2nd stage of huge New Glenn rocket ahead of debut launch (video)

 — NASA delays ESCAPADE Mars launch on Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket to 2025 to avoid potential cost overruns

 — New Glenn: Blue Origin's Reusable Rocket

Blue Ring, the spacecraft platform, is designed to be a service module for other spacecraft or instruments to attach to. The platform is designed to either remain on the rocket or to deploy, depending on the mission's needs. Blue Origin officials recently wrote in a company statement that Blue Ring can "easily maneuver through multiple orbits."

New Glenn was expected to fly for the first time in October 2024 with NASA's twin ESCAPADE Mars probes on board, but the space agency stood down from the launch out of a concern about cost overruns associated with the new and therefore somewhat developmental rocket line.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Former Staff Writer, Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. 

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Philly
    This is a brand new launch system. Even the launch pad is brand new.

    Have they tested the fueling systems completely yet? Test fired the 1st stage yet? Fully fueled and defueled the entire rocket yet? Tested a count down to everything but a launch yet? Do the have the launch license yet?

    With all those "yets" somehow BO is going to launch in 24?
    Reply
  • Cymerax
    WHY DO YOU KEEP COMPARING NEW GLENN TO ANYTHING OTHER THAN STARSHIP?????????
    STOP with your ridiculous bias and attempts to exaggerate Blu Origen's accomplishments!!! An intelligent and unbiased writer SHOULD KNOW BETTER and understand that when making comparisons, to New Glenn the ONLY launch vehicle you need to mention in the same breath IS STARSHIP!!!
    First off New Glenn has accomplished NOTHING, period, so it does NOT deserve to be compared to Falcon, the most reliable and critically important launch vehicle EVER BUILT!!!!
    So just STOP, it makes you look incompetent when you downplay the REAL COMPETITION because we all know that it’s Starship!
    Reply
  • Cymerax
    Philly said:
    This is a brand new launch system. Even the launch pad is brand new.

    Have they tested the fueling systems completely yet? Test fired the 1st stage yet? Fully fueled and defueled the entire rocket yet? Tested a count down to everything but a launch yet? Do the have the launch license yet?

    With all those "yets" somehow BO is going to launch in 24?
    Thank you!! Idk but the writers here continually display a bias towards Blue Origen’s New Glenn, for instance WHY do they fail to talk about your points and utterly avoid expressing the obvious healthy skepticism over Blue Origen’s plan to launch a REAL PAYLOAD on its maiden flight on a completely radical 100% NEW design that has NEVER been flown, THAT IS UNHEARD OF and utterly irresponsible smh!
    Reply
  • George²
    Philly said:
    This is a brand new launch system. Even the launch pad is brand new.

    Have they tested the fueling systems completely yet? Test fired the 1st stage yet? Fully fueled and defueled the entire rocket yet? Tested a count down to everything but a launch yet? Do the have the launch license yet?

    With all those "yets" somehow BO is going to launch in 24?
    At least one thing is certain. The BE4 engines have been tested many times and even fly in real flights, albeit with a different rocket.
    Reply
  • Unclear Engineer
    I do agree that the article seems to be avoiding comparisons to SpaceX StarShip, and that it does not provide any real perspective on where in the launch preparation process the New Glenn rocket is currently working.

    However, I do hope that this rocket succeeds in becoming a functional launch option.

    So, how about giving us the same amount of detail on things like remaining tests, open issues, etc.. as is usually done for SpaceX developmental launches?
    Reply
  • TomMariner
    I LOVE competition -- we always run our best race when the person next to us is pushing hard. Best, this is between two private, commercial organizations, not countries. May both Blue Origins and SpaceX keep innovating.

    But Blue Origin seems to be learning by putting people up there and NO issues are allowed, while SpaceX first throws satellites, etc. into orbit where if you reach too far it is "oh well, better luck next week". And, more importantly, while the SpaceX close-up, high-def, real-time programs keep us entertained, they also dramatically improve the feedback that makes the next version of the product better.
    Reply
  • Unclear Engineer
    I agree about the competition.

    But, regarding "putting people up there", SpaceX is doing that, too. But SpaceX is putting people into orbit and boarding the ISS, even going beyond LEO, even making space suits suitable for space walks. Meanwhile, Blue Origin has spent a lot of effort on suborbital launches of humans who are pretty much tourists. I am not thinking that is getting Blue Origin much practical experience in the orbital mission parameters. However, they do get to land their booster.

    After watching Boeing's technical and financial trajectory, I don't want to see all of our capabilities depend on any one company. So, I'm rooting for Blue Origin and Sierra Space. And not just for launch vehicles, but for crewed vehicles and space stations, and lunar habitats, too.
    Reply
  • Cymerax
    TomMariner said:
    I LOVE competition -- we always run our best race when the person next to us is pushing hard. Best, this is between two private, commercial organizations, not countries. May both Blue Origins and SpaceX keep innovating.

    But Blue Origin seems to be learning by putting people up there and NO issues are allowed, while SpaceX first throws satellites, etc. into orbit where if you reach too far it is "oh well, better luck next week". And, more importantly, while the SpaceX close-up, high-def, real-time programs keep us entertained, they also dramatically improve the feedback that makes the next version of the product better.
    "..PUTTING PEOPLE UP THERE"?????????
    What are you talking about, you mean taking tourists to barely above the Karmen line??? Wow, sorry but you do not know what you're talking about because WHO is the ONLY human launch provider in the US???? OH YEAH, it's SpaceX that's who, Blue Origen is NOT qualified nor permitted yet to put humans INTO ORBIT, so your obvious bias makes it difficult to take anything you say seriously, please try better.
    Reply
  • Cymerax
    George² said:
    At least one thing is certain. The BE4 engines have been tested many times and even fly in real flights, albeit with a different rocket.
    Well yes they're tested on a single engine vehicle, but if you remember how much trouble SpaceX had on Starship getting multiple engines to work together, BO will likely have similar issue although having only 7 instead of 33 certainly reduces the complexity. But it's also the massive vibrations and the issues that can cause which are a different engineering challenge. That said I agree with others that I wish them success as we need more that one reliable space launch company as SpaceX NEEDS competition.
    Reply
  • Philly
    George² said:
    At least one thing is certain. The BE4 engines have been tested many times and even fly in real flights, albeit with a different rocket.
    Sure, 1 actual test flight on a different rocket is better than zero test flights.

    But there are so many new variables with a new rocket. Just not knowing how exactly the rocket will shake and vibrate during liftoff is a huge unknown. The 2nd Sat V flight had major issues trying to get to orbit. All of those F-1 were test fired quite a bit also.

    BO won't know until they fly. I have no clue why they wouldn't of at least tried a few hot fire tests, with the 1st stage at least a year of so ago. Why not do a Hopper program to shake out some of the unknown for landing the 1st stage?

    Even fueling the rocket is filled with all kind of new systems and software. H2 is always tricky even if you're experienced with it. Draining the fuel due to a scrub is not easy with an established proven rocket doing it for the first few times is especially tricky. Simulation vs real world rarely line up exactly. Troubleshooting any problem for the 1st time always adds time to the learning curve.
    Reply