After the success of its first flight test, the New Glenn rocket from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is preparing to become the most direct competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9. It is not an imminent race because the New Glenn will have to face other tests, especially to demonstrate the ability to return to Earth and then be recovered. The future scenario, however, is that of two private companies in competition.

Earth orbit will likely be the main racing ground , given the giant constellations of Starlink satellites that Musk’s SpaceX has been launching for years and the Amazon Kuiper constellation, just starting to emerge, which the arrival of New Glenn could greatly accelerate.

Dedicated to John Glenn, the first American astronaut to reach Earth's orbit, the Blue Origin rocket is 98 meters tall, has a diameter of seven and was designed to carry many loads at the same time, releasing them into different orbits. Its second stage is in fact equipped with the Blue Ring platform, designed to carry satellites up to a total load of three tons. At the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the countdown was interrupted twice, the second time because a vessel had entered an area too close to the launch base. With a delay of over an hour, New Glenn finally took off and faced its first flight test, necessary to obtain certification from the National Security Space Launch, the American program aimed at guaranteeing safe access to Earth's orbit. The test that New Glenn would have to face was twofold: reaching orbit, which was the main objective, and demonstrating the ability to re-enter Earth. The separation of the two rocket stages occurred correctly and the second stage continued its race towards orbit, which it reached correctly greeted by a real ovation from the Blue Origin technicians. In the meantime the first stage returned, but no applause accompanied it because it did not land on the platform in the Atlantic called Jacklyn, like Bezos' mother .

It is not yet known how far New Glenn’s first stage ended up from its target. Reaching orbit was the primary goal of this test, as the company itself stated in a post on X shortly before the launch: “Our primary goal today is to reach orbit safely. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. We know that landing the booster on our first attempt off the Atlantic is ambitious, but we are trying. No matter what happens, we will learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.”

Musk also congratulated Bezos, posting on X, "for reaching orbit on the first try."

(Online Union)

© Riproduzione riservata