Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket into orbit on 1st flight (video)

COCOA BEACH, Florida  —  Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket just earned its wings.

New Glenn launched for the first time ever this morning (Jan. 16), rising off a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here on Florida’s Space Coast at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT). About 12.5 minutes later, the rocket’s upper stage reached orbit — the main goal of today’s test flight, which the company called NG-1.

“We got to orbit safely,” Ariane Cornell, vice president of in-space systems at Blue Origin, said in the company’s launch webcast. “Congratulations, everybody. What a day!”

a white rocket launches into a dark night sky

Blue Origin launches its first New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Jan. 16, 2025. (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

Blue Origin also tried to land New Glenn’s reusable first stage on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean, which is nicknamed Jacklyn, after company founder Jeff Bezos’ mother. The booster managed to fire up three of its engines in a reentry burn as planned, but it didn’t stick the landing.

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