A new Glenn rocket launch challenges Elon Musk’s space dominance
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company has launched its first rocket into orbit in a bid to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The New Glenn rocket was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida at 02:02 local time (07:02 GMT).
It pits two of the world’s richest men firmly against each other in the commercial space race, competing to fly bigger and more powerful rockets.
Both want to populate the skies with more satellites, launch private space stations and provide transportation for regular trips to the moon.
“Congratulations on getting into orbit on your first try!” Musk wrote in a post to Bezos on X.
Dave Limp, CEO of Bezos’ space company Blue Origin, said he was “incredibly proud”.
“We will learn a lot from today and try again at the next launch this spring,” he added.
Bezos’ team overcame technical hurdles that caused delays earlier this week when ice formation halted the launch.
Blue Origin employees and crowds gathered near Cape Canaveral cheered as the 98-meter-tall rocket flew into orbit.
But the company failed to land the New Glenn rocket’s main engine, or booster, on the platform in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was hoped that the booster could be reused for future launches, but after about 20 minutes of flight, the company confirmed that it had lost its engine.
Bezos’ company Blue Origin has had a hard time keeping up with the pace set by SpaceX. But this launch will be seen as a big step forward for the business.
The New Glenn rocket was named after John Glenn, the first American astronaut who orbited the Earth more than 60 years ago.
The rocket is more powerful than SpaceX’s most-used rocket, the Falcon 9. It can also carry more satellites, and Bezos wants to use it as part of his Project Kuiper, which aims to deploy thousands of low-Earth satellites to provide broadband service.
That project would compete directly with Musk’s Starlink service.
Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin 25 years ago, claiming he wanted “millions of people working and living in space.”
For years, the venture sent a smaller reusable rocket called New Shepard to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. It carried passengers and cargo, including Bezos himself in 2021.
But Blue Origin dramatically outpaced SpaceX, which launched its rockets 134 times last year.
And SpaceX’s new generation of rockets, called Starship, is even more powerful. The company hopes to launch it on its seventh test flight later today.
Some experts say a successful New Glenn rocket will create real competition between the two companies and lower the cost of space operations.
“What you’re going to see is that these two companies are challenging each other to take even bigger steps,” suggests Dr. Simeon Barber from the Open University in Great Britain.
Throughout history, governments have spent billions building rockets and sending missions into space.
But the US space agency NASA is increasingly moving away from relying solely on public money and has awarded huge contracts to private companies to provide rockets and other space services.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has already won billions of dollars worth of space contracts.
His close relationship with the next US president, Donald Trump, could further strengthen his company.