Blue Origin has successfully reused a New Glenn rocket for the first time, achieving a key milestone for the heavy-launch system as it aims to compete with SpaceX. This was achieved on Sunday during the third-ever launch of New Glenn, over a year after its first flight, following more than a decade of development.
Reusability is essential for the financial viability of New Glenn. SpaceX’s reuse of Falcon 9 rocket boosters is a primary factor in its dominance of the global orbital launch market.
Though Blue Origin has launched commercial payloads with New Glenn, including Sunday’s second customer satellite mission, the company plans to use the rocket for NASA moon missions and to assist in building space-based satellite networks for itself and Amazon.
The booster reused on Sunday was previously flown in November during the second New Glenn mission, where it aided in launching two NASA spacecraft for a Mars mission and successfully landed on a drone ship. On Sunday, Blue Origin again recovered it on a drone ship about 10 minutes post-launch.
Sunday’s main objective was deploying a communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile. At the time of publication, the New Glenn upper stage was still transporting the satellite to its designated orbit, with updates to follow as the mission progresses.