The New Glenn rocket from Blue Origin, the space company of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, was successfully launched from US Cape Canaveral. The rocket carried two satellites that are part of a NASA mission to Mars. After its mission, the New Glenn launch rocket successfully landed on a platform in the sea.
The launch took place on Thursday 13 November. It was the second attempt; on Sunday 9 November, the launch had to be aborted due to cloud cover and a geomagnetic storm. So a few days later, the launch could still go ahead. However, the launch did take place an hour later than originally planned. The process was aborted shortly before the launch for unknown reasons.
Second stage successfully landed
After a nine-minute flight, the reusable launcher detached and returned to Earth. Here, the rocket successfully managed to land on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean. This is an important milestone for Blue Origin. During a test flight in January, this landing still failed.
The rocket has a diameter of 7 metres. New Glenn was developed by Blue Origin to carry payloads of up to 45 metric tonnes (MT) into low Earth orbit or payloads of 13 MT into geostationary orbit.
The rocket is equipped with seven BE4 engines, which Blue Origin developed and manufactured in-house. The motors collectively deliver 17,000 kN of thrust. The second stage is additionally equipped with two BE-3U engines, designed for use in space.
Two flights of stairs
A feature of New Glenn is the use of two stages. The first stage is reusable and will land on a platform in the sea after launch, which Blue Origin calls Jacklyn. The stage must be capable of a minimum of 25 flights. By reusing the first stage, Blue Origin aims to reduce the cost of rocket launches and also create less waste.
New Glenn's first stage on Jacklyn landing pad (image: Blue Origin)
In time, Blue Origin also wants to make the second stage reusable. It has been working on Project Jarvis for this purpose since 2021. However, New Glenn is equipped with a second stage that is not reusable and will therefore be lost.
Blue and Gold
New Glenn carried two satellites for NASA, named Blue and Gold. Blue and Gold decoupled from New Glenn after a flight of about 20 minutes and are therefore now on their way to Mars. The satellites are part of Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE), a NASA mission to map Mars' response to the solar wind.
The satellites will also map Mars' magnetosphere. This is an area around a celestial body where the magnetic field influences the movement of charged particles. Mars' magnetosphere consists of residual magnetic fields from an ancient planetary core and a weaker magnetic field in the upper atmosphere. The lack of a global magnetosphere like that on Earth contributes to the gradual loss of the atmosphere.
Blue and Gold will survey the upper atmosphere and magnetosphere of Mars at altitudes between 160 and 10,000 kilometres. This should provide insights into how space weather around Mars affects the planet's atmosphere.
Milestone for NASA
For NASA, the launch is an important milestone; it is the first time since 2020 that the US space agency will carry out another mission to Mars. NASA launched the Mars Perseverance rover on 30 July 2020, which is searching for clues to any past life or possibility of it on Mars. In addition, the rover investigates geological processes on the planet.
Image: Blue Origin
