Today’s launch is not Blue Origin’s first foray into the space industry spotlight.
The company garnered international attention in 2021 with the first flight of its New Shepard rocket, which is designed to make 10-minute, up-and-down trips that brush the edge of space.
The company has since flown a total of nine crewed missions, carrying a total of nearly 50 passengers. The crews have included famed “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, TV host Michael Strahan, and science communicator Emily Calandrelli.
New Glenn, however, is an entirely different beast.
While New Shepard aims to just reach an altitude marker — called the Kármán Line — in order to touch space, New Glenn will seek to reach orbit, a feat that requires many times the amount of power and speed compared with New Shepard’s suborbital flights.
Just consider the size difference: New Shepard stands at about 60 feet (18 meters), while New Glenn towers at 320 feet (98 meters).
Blue Origin notes that the entire New Shepard vehicle can fit snugly within New Glenn’s cargo bay.
And while New Shepard’s single rocket engine can blast the vehicle on brief joy rides that travel up to about three times the speed of sound, New Glenn aims to reach velocities exceeding 17,500 miles per hour (28,164 kilometers per hour), which is nearly 23 times the speed of sound.
Take note, however, that at this point there are no plans to fly humans on New Glenn.
The rocket is instead designed to carry massive spacecraft, batches of small satellites and other payloads, such as pieces of an orbital space station.
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