Blue Origin has for the first time landed the booster rocket for its largest spacecraft in a step forward for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it tries to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch market.
The company launched its 98-metre rocket called New Glenn from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3.55pm on Thursday, several months later than planned and nearly a year after Blue Origin conducted its inaugural flight.
Blue Origin, owned by the Amazon founder, is behind Musk’s SpaceX in its efforts to become a big commercial space launch provider. It has secured a number of multibillion-dollar contracts with Amazon and the US government, but these are contingent on New Glenn launching at a regular rate.