It was a resounding success for Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos company, to launch the New Glenn rocket on Thursday with two NASA spacecraft bound for Mars. This was only the second flight of the rocket that the American billionaire’s company and the U.S. space agency rely on to carry people and supplies to the moon.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 13, 2025
The 98-metre-high New Glenn rocket was launched from the Cape Canaveral space base after a four-day delay due to adverse weather conditions in the region and solar storms.
At the same time, for the first time in its history, Blue Origin recovered the booster after it was detached, an essential step in recycling and cost reduction, similar to the way SpaceX rockets are operated.
The two spacecraft, named Escapade, will spend a year near Earth at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres. Once Earth and Mars are properly aligned next fall, they will receive a boost from Earth to head for the “red planet” to arrive there in 2027.
New Glenn, named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, is five times larger than Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets, which send wealthy customers to the edge of space from west Texas.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 13, 2025
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