Jan. 15 (UPI) — Blue Origin successfully launched its two-stage heavy-lift New Glenn rocket on its unmanned maiden voyage into space early Thursday, with the mission’s goal being to reach orbit before returning to Earth.
The rocket launched at 2:04 a.m. EST at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
As the rocket lifted off, cheers could be heard erupting in the control room during the live broadcast and persisted for minutes throughout New Glenn’s rise into space.
“LIFTOFF! New Glenn is beginning its first ever ascent toward the stars,” Blue Origin celebrated on X.
Minutes later, Blue Origin confirmed a clean separation of the two-stage rocket, sending its booster back to Earth.
Photographers reset their remote cameras on Wednesday as Blue Origin makes final preparations to launch its New Glenn rocket on its maiden flight from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1 a.m. Thursday. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
Shortly before the launch was 13 minutes old, its primary objective of achieving orbit was confirmed.
A three-hour window had opened at 1 a.m. and was to close at 4 a.m.
Local weather forecasters had only predict a 40% chance of favorable weather for launch.
Dubbed the NG-1 mission, Blue Origin has encountered weather and technology problems that forced the cancellation of two prior planned launches.
Blue Origin scrubbed the New Glenn rocket’s maiden launch early Monday morning after encountering a “vehicle subsystem issue.”
The issue arose due to icing on a power unit within the rocket, WFTV reported.
A planned launch on Friday also was scrubbed, this time due to inclement weather.
Blue Origin engineers have named the New Glenn rocket’s first-stage booster “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance” and intends to land it on a droneship named Jacklyn in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 320-foot New Glenn rocket is named after space pioneer John Glenn, who was the first American to orbit Earth.
The reusable rocket is designed to carry the Blue Ring Pathfinder spacecraft in its 23-foot payload fairing and intended for 25 flights.
The Pathfinder is equipped with a communications array, a flight computer and a power system to enable it to support data relay, cloud computing, hosting and refueling missions.
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, and it has been developing the New Glenn rocket for more than a decade.
The successful launch enables the New Glenn to obtain Department of Defense certification and create a challenge to Elon Musk-owned SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket.
The rocket has a reuseable first stage that contains Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines fueled by a mixture of liquid natural gas and liquid oxygen.
The rocket’s first stage returns to Earth after completing its launch and first-stage separation and will be retrieved by an autonomous droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The New Glenn’s upper stage is powered by Blue Origin’s BE-3U engines that are fueled by a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
The upper stage is designed to carry up to 45 metric tons of cargo into low-Earth orbit and would deploy Project Kuiper satellites and equipment into space.
The rocket also eventually would launch humans into space.