Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Takes Off, but Landing Fails

Thursday morning, Blue Origin, a company started by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, made a big step. They launched New Glenn, their first rocket strong enough to send satellites into space. This happened at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket took off after 2 a. m. ET and carried a piece called the Blue Ring Pathfinder safely into orbit. But the first-stage booster, which Blue Origin wanted to land on a sea platform like SpaceX does, didn't make it. This is important because reusing boosters can save money. New Glenn's first stage fired its engines for over three minutes before separating from the upper part. The booster tried to land on a platform named Jacklyn, after Bezos's mom. But the live data from the rocket stopped, and the booster was lost. SpaceX also had trouble with this in the past.

The rest of the New Glenn's flight seemed fine. The upper part, with the Blue Ring technology, continued into orbit. It reached speeds over 17, 000 miles per hour (27, 359 kilometers per hour) and shed its protective shell. The Blue Ring demonstrator will stay attached for the whole mission, which should last about six hours. NASA plans to use New Glenn to send orbiters to Mars. Blue Origin also has other missions planned, like helping Amazon's internet satellites and space-based cellular broadband satellites. The Blue Ring technology could one day help move satellites deeper into space.

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