Jeff Bezos Finally Got His New Big Rocket Up, But Misses Booster Landing

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, successfully launched its new flagship rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 0203 ET. The launch occurred five years later than initially planned and an hour into the launch window. Liberal MSM celebrated the launch event, framing it as a move to challenge Elon Musk’s space monopoly with SpaceX. 

New Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral at 0203 ET. The payload of New Glenn was the company’s Blue Ring Pathfinder test satellite, which was put into orbit – the main objective of the space mission. 

pic.twitter.com/kIEqPxxwa7

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 16, 2025

“Key here, we hit our main objective,” Blue Origin executive Ariane Cornell told viewers on a live stream, adding, “We got to orbit, safely.” 

However, the rocket’s reusable first-stage booster failed to land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, something SpaceX’s reusable booster rockets do regularly, blasting Starlink satellites into orbit. 

On X, Musk congratulated Bezos on finally getting his new big rocket to space: “Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @JeffBezos.”

Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @JeffBezos https://t.co/EJl6L8aevV

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

Blue Origin postponed New Glenn’s launch earlier this week due to adverse weather conditions.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported last August that “testing including a factory mishap that damaged a portion of a future New Glenn rocket,” adding the rocket company has “grappled with development delays, a sluggish corporate culture and explosive setbacks.” 

Who has the bigger rocket?

Bezos told Bloomberg earlier in the week that the space industry has room for “multiple winners.”

Yet Blue Origin is many years behind SpaceX… 

BBC World News named SpaceX’s Starship booster catch as one of the top science highlights of 2024 pic.twitter.com/9JDvt5puOD

— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) December 29, 2024

SpaceX leads the global rocket race, launching 86% of all upmass to space in the third quarter of 2024. Also, SpaceX’s Starlink is dominating the global space internet race. 

This evening, SpaceX will be launching the seventh test flight of its Starship mega-rocket.