#ThatWasAwesome
Finally! Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket − for the first time − and people beyond the Space Coast of Florida saw it light up the sky.
For the maiden launch of Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket, it was years in the making. After a hot-fire test in December 2024, the private space company aimed for launch several times this month. The three-hour window remained the same each time: 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Liftoff occurred from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:03 a.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, from historic Launch Complex 36. Blue Origin’s 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket is intended to carry Department of Defense missions.
Cape Canaveral is an hour east of the Orlando theme parks. Depending on cloud cover, weather and visibility, people from Orlando, Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach and Vero Beach likely saw a nice streak in the sky — given the proximity to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Space Coast of Florida includes 72 miles of coast, from Mims and Titusville to Melbourne and Grant-Valkaria.
This story contains a video replay of Blue Origin’s maiden launch of its New Glenn rocket, named for astronaut John Glenn, as well as social media reactions of the historic moment from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The photos and video clips (turn up the sound to hear “the rumble”) are from the social platforms X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and Instagram, owned by billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
For space news and updates on Blue Origin, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, the Space Coast of Florida, NASA, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin launches New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida
Blue Origin New Glenn rocket launch photos from Twitter, Instagram
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Bonus photo: Full moon and Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Bezos, Blue Origin New Glenn on social: Cape Canaveral launch pictures