Blue Origin's 320+ foot New Glenn rocket stands vertical for first time at Cape Canaveral
Blue Origin's long-anticipated New Glenn rocket is now standing vertical for the first time at Launch Complex 36, where the private space company spent more than $1 billion on reconstruction work at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
"This milestone represents the first view of the advanced heavy-lift vehicle, which will support a multitude of customer missions and Blue Origin programs, including returning to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program," a Blue Origin press release said.
"Everything on the pad is real New Glenn hardware. The upending is one in a series of major manufacturing and integrated test milestones in preparation for New Glenn’s first launch later this year," the press release said.
New Glenn: Blue Origin ramping up New Glenn rocket production on Merritt Island ahead of 1st launch
"The test campaign enables our teams to practice, validate, and increase proficiency in vehicle integration, transport, ground support, and launch operations. These tests do not require engines, which are hotfiring at the historic 4670 Test Stand in Huntsville and Launch Site One in West Texas," the press release said.
In tweets Wednesday, Blue Origin officials said this "pathfinder vehicle" will undergo a series of tanking and mechanical system tests and remain vertical for at least a week.
Blue Origin has constructed a futuristic rocket-manufacturing facility to build New Glenn rockets just south of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, nine miles from LC-36.
More buildings are planned at the rocket factory in the near future, Lars Hoffman, Blue Origin vice president for national security sales, said during a Feb. 1 presentation at Spacecom in Orlando.
"New Glenn is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The rocket stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) high — roughly the height of a 30-story building — and features a seven-meter payload fairing, enabling twice the volume of standard five-meter class commercial launch systems," the Blue Origin press release said.
"The fairing is large enough to hold three school buses. Its reusable first stage aims for a minimum of 25 missions and will land on a sea-based platform located roughly 620 miles (1,000 km) downrange. Reusability is integral to radically reducing cost-per-launch," the press release said.
New Glenn launch customers will include NASA, Amazon's Project Kuiper, Telesat and Eutelsat, the press release said. The company also hopes to attain Space Force certification to fly national security missions.
Amazon’s $120 million Project Kuiper broadband-satellite processing facility remains under construction at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at the Launch and Landing Facility. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also founded Blue Origin back in 2000.
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For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Blue Origin's 320+ foot New Glenn rocket goes vertical for first time
