It’s been a week since Blue Origin landed the first-stage of its New Glenn rocket on a ship floating on the ocean, and with all of the back-slapping, endless celebrations, social media posts, and now a dramatic video (below), you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the first time it’d ever achieved such a feat. Oh wait, it was.
The footage shows the booster returning to base to a hero’s welcome. Drone shots, close-ups, and cheering workers big up the booster in a way we’ve never really seen before for a rocket part. And look, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos even showed up for the rocket’s triumphant return.
To recap, Blue Origin launched the New Glenn rocket on its second mission on November 13, with the vehicle lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Minutes after deploying NASA’s ESCAPADE spacecraft on its long journey to Mars, the New Glenn’s first stage descended all the way back to Earth before making a perfect upright landing on a ship waiting off the coast of Florida.
The launch set a number of records for the company, including its first operational mission following a test flight in January, and the first flight for a paying customer — NASA. And yes, it also marked the first successful landing of the New Glenn’s main booster after a failed attempt at the start of the year.
Of course, rival spaceflight company SpaceX has been landing its first-stage booster in the same way for years, and up until last week it was the only spaceflight company able to perform the feat.
Landing boosters in this way allows SpaceX — and now Blue Origin — to reuse them for multiple missions, drastically reducing the cost of spaceflight and thereby giving more businesses and organizations the chance to access space.
Besides being rightly proud of landing a booster for the first time, Blue Origin’s promotion of the achievement looks like a calling card for SpaceX. Indeed, the entire mission demonstrated Blue Origin’s expanded capabilities, including its ability to launch interplanetary missions.
It’s true that SpaceX still dominates the spaceflight market with its ability to launch missions on a regular basis, but Blue Origin is definitely knocking at its door.
The arrival of a new spaceflight player is great news for NASA, too, as it provides the space agency with more options for critical missions.
