It's a Real Space Race: Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin Reveals First Orbital Rocket

By Ana Verayo, | September 13, 2016

New Glenn family of orbital launch vehicles

New Glenn family of orbital launch vehicles

Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, who owns private space company Blue Origin, on Monday revealed new plans for a giant rocket that is designed to be powerful enough to take people to space and launch satellites into orbit.

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It is a real space race for the U.S. commercial space industry, and Blue Origin does not want to be left out. Bezos revealed that the new rocket, known as the New Glenn, has been under development for the last four years.

The two-stage rocket is measured at 270 feet tall, and the three-stage version of the rocket would be around 313 feet tall - this is taller than SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. NASA is also working on a new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at 384 feet that will carry humans to Mars by the 2030s.

Before this new rocket, Blue Origin launched its New Shepard rocket that can carry space tourists to lower Earth orbit in the near future. The rocker, which is reusable, can land vertically back on Earth after a suborbital launch.

Bezos said that by re-flying the New Shepard, Blue Origin has learned so much about rocket design in terms of practicality, and operable reusability that would be manifested in the New Glenn.

The New Glenn is capable of lifting 3.85 million pounds. It is powered by several BE-4 engines similar to United Space Alliance's new Vulcan rocket. The booster rocket part would be reusable and will return to Earth after deploying its payload into space.

Commercial space flight will soon become a reality as both SpaceX and Blue Origin have successfully launched rockets that can vertically land back to Earth. This is a crucial part in making rockets reusable like airplanes.

Bezos plans to launch and fly the New Glenn for the first time by the end of this decade from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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