Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday, carrying two NASA spacecraft to study Mars. The company also achieved a significant milestone by recovering its engine.
The launch was delayed for several days due to weather conditions, but the outcome was ultimately satisfactory, as Blue Origin successfully recovered the rocket's first stage for reuse in future launches, thus reducing costs.
Cheers erupted at the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the engine landed smoothly on a floating platform in the ocean.
Prior to this success, only SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, was capable of recovering its launch engines.
This achievement comes amidst intensifying competition between the two companies, particularly as NASA recently issued tenders for its upcoming mission to the moon. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire close to Musk and President Donald Trump's nominee to head NASA, was quick to welcome the success of this complex and delicate operation.
Several SpaceX executives congratulated the rival company, including Musk himself, who wrote on his X, "Congratulations to Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin team."
The launch had been postponed several times due to weather conditions and high solar activity, which NASA feared could affect its probes.
Several technical problems, which Blue Origin did not explain, also caused further delays on Thursday. But at 3:33 PM (8:55 PM), the 98-meter-tall rocket finally lifted off.
The rocket is scheduled to place two probes into what space scientists call a "safe orbit" near Earth, before launching them toward Mars orbit in 2027. This mission is called ESCAPADE.
Joseph Whitlake, a solar physicist at NASA, explained during a webcast on Thursday how the two probes, named Blue and Gold, will find a "safe landing orbit" to conduct "measurements related to Earth's atmosphere."
Then, once the planets are properly aligned in the fall of 2026, the probes will receive a gravitational boost from Earth to begin their journey to Mars orbit, which they will reach in 2027.
- A Journey to the Moon -
But its engine, which was supposed to be reusable, was lost during landing.
Thursday's launch, including the successful recovery of the first stage, indicated that Blue Origin is on track to reduce costs by reusing the engine in future launches instead of letting it fall into the ocean.
This also comes as the Trump administration is pressuring NASA to accelerate a crewed mission to the moon, amid the race with China.
George Nield, an executive at the The space and aviation sector is working to support the commercial space industry. This latest launch represents a major victory for Blue Origin.
He added to AFP that this achievement "will give the company the credibility and confidence to move forward with the Artemis program, aiming for missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as missions in Earth orbit such as commercial space stations and many other projects."
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