Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is set for the inaugural launch of its new space rocket in a development that could add more fuel to the billionaire space race.
The New Glenn rocket is due to blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1am US eastern time (6am UK time) this morning – the result of a multi-billion dollar, decade-long effort that could set the stage for Amazon’s satellite constellation venture and dent Elon Musk’s market share.
Mr Musk’s SpaceX has dominated the scene for many years but both Mr Bezos and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson have designs on outer space… and the wealth tied up in its exploration.
Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of travelling to space,” Mr Bezos said ahead of his journey to the edge of space in 2021.
He founded the Blue Origin venture with the aim of having “millions of people working and living in space”.
For years it has launched – and landed – its reusable New Shepard rocket to and from the brim of Earth’s atmosphere, but has never sent anything into orbit. That could all change today.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Amazon. Pic: Reuters
Blue Origin will be hoping its New Glenn rocket will be able to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the world’s most active rocket.
Compared to Mr Musk’s Falcon 9, the New Glenn is about twice as powerful and its payload bay diameter is two times larger in order to fit bigger batches of satellites.
The upcoming launch is also a key certification flight required by the US Space Force before New Glenn can launch national security payloads as part of multi-billion dollar government tenders Blue Origin hopes to win.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off in…
