Le vol a enfin pu avoir lieu après de multiples reports. MAXPPP – Jennifer Briggs
Alors que son vol inaugural avait été reporté de nombreuses fois, la fusée New Glenn de la société spatiale Blue Origin, propriété de Jeff Bezos, a pu décoller ce jeudi 16 janvier.
The American space company Blue Origin launched its large New Glenn rocket for the first time on Thursday, January 16, an inaugural flight that looks like a turning point for the company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, which intends to catch up with its rival SpaceX.
98 meters high, the size of a building of about 30 floors, New Glenn took off successfully at around 2:03 a.m. local time (7:03 a.m. GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, despite weather conditions that were not optimal.
A flight postponed several times
The maiden flight of this powerful rocket had been expected for years and was postponed several times and even cancelled at the last minute on Monday due to a technical problem.
If the mission goes as planned, New Glenn should reach orbit, which would be a first for the private space company created in 2000. “Anything beyond that is a bonus”, David Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, has already said.
Although the company has already been taking tourists into space for a few minutes for several years with its New Shepard rocket, it has not yet conducted any orbital flights. With New Glenn, which is much more powerful, it aims to enter a new market, that of launching commercial and military satellites into orbit, as well as spacecraft and astronauts.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000And thus compete with SpaceX, which belongs to another American billionaire, Elon Musk, and which currently dominates the market with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, and is currently developing the largest rocket ever created. This mega rocket named Starship is also scheduled to conduct a seventh test flight on Thursday, weather permitting, after a postponement on Wednesday.
A partially reusable rocket
For George Nield, president of a company promoting private space activities, the launch of New Glenn is good news for the entire space sector, because “it's good to have competition, to have choice.”
“It's very important for the commercial space industry, but also for the government and NASA” because it not only reduces costs, but also offers a plan B “in case of a problem with a device”, he explained to AFP before the flight.
During this inaugural mission, which is expected to last six hours, Blue Origin plans to try to recover the first stage of its rocket, which propelled the whole thing. Like SpaceX's Falcon 9, the New Glenn rocket is partially reusable, a feature that not only reduces costs but also allows for a higher flight rate.
Blue Origin has already managed to land its New Shepard rocket on land in Texas. But this time, it plans to try a controlled landing of the first stage on a barge at sea, a delicate maneuver similar to those performed by SpaceX. It's “ambitious”, the CEO on X acknowledged, “but we'll give it a try. Either way, we'll learn a lot.”
Other flights are expected to follow
The rocket will also carry a prototype of the Blue Ring multipurpose tug, a spacecraft designed to perform operations in space and move satellites to their final orbits. Its technical functions will be tested during the mission, the company said.
If this launch is successful, other flights of the New Glenn are expected to follow in 2025. Blue Origin has already signed contracts with several customers, including the American space agency for an unmanned mission to Mars, and the American government for national security missions.
On the commercial side, it plans to deploy internet satellites for several companies. It should also, like SpaceX with Starlink, be responsible for launching satellites for the Amazon group. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the world’s two richest men, are also battling it out in the satellite internet space.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk on Thursday congratulated his rival Jeff Bezos, founder of the company Blue Origin, on the successful first flight of his large New Glenn rocket, which managed to reach orbit. “Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first try!”, Elon Musk posted on his X platform to Mr. Bezos.