CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., - This weekend, SpaceX’s gargantuan Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster—which stand nearly as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza when stacked—may finally get some competition. Blue Origin’s New Glenn is also a giant among rockets despite having yet to fly. On Friday, though, the Jeff Bezos-owned company completed the rocket’s first full-vehicle hotfire test—the final key step before launch. A few hours earlier, the FAA issued Blue Origin a Part 450 commercial launch license authorizing New Glenn’s maiden flight. According to the agency’s current operations plan advisory, it could launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as early as Sunday at 11:30 p.m. EST, Jack Daleo writes for Flying. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
6 January 2025 - New Glenn stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) high and features a seven-meter payload fairing, which Blue Origin says enables twice the payload volume of current five-meter systems.
The vehicle is powered by seven of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines, and uses liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled. The seven BE-4s generate over 3.8 million lbf of thrust. The vehicle’s second stage is powered by two BE-3Us, liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) engines designed to together yield over 320,000 lbf of vacuum thrust.
"This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch," said Jarrett Jones, SVP, New Glenn. "Today’s success proves that our rigorous approach to testing–combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering–is working as intended."
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
