The China Mail - Blue Origin set to launch rocket with reusable booster for first time

The novel approach comes amid fierce competition between Bezos's firm and fellow tech titan Elon Musk's SpaceX, and a successful outing Sunday could up the pace and lower the cost of future Blue Origin launches.

At nearly 100 meters (about 328 feet) tall, the New Glenn is slated for liftoff from Florida's Cape Canaveral sometime between 6:45 am (1045 GMT) and 8:45 am. It will carry a communications satellite for the company AST SpaceMobile.

The company has launched the New Glenn twice before, but only with new rocket boosters.

It has launched its far smaller New Shepard rocket, primarily used for suborbital space tourism, with reused components before in a less technically challenging operation.

In November, Blue Origin recovered a New Glenn booster for the first time, succeeding in the complex technical challenge that culminated with a controlled vertical landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

A previous attempt in January 2025 to recover the booster was unsuccessful after its engines failed to reignite during descent.

The booster that will be used in Sunday's launch was refurbished after its previous flight. For this first reuse, the company replaced all of its engines and make a few other modifications.

After liftoff, the rocket's two stages will separate at altitude. The upper stage will continue its journey carrying the satellite into space, while the booster will descend and attempt to land on a barge.

The operation's performance will be closely watched, as the New Glenn is at the heart of Bezos's space ambitions.

He is notably competing with Musk in NASA's Artemis lunar program, with their respective space companies both developing lunar landers for the US space agency.

The United States is doubling down on efforts to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in 2028, before the end of President Donald Trump's term and a deadline set by Chinese rivals.

D.Pan--ThChM