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Blue Origin New Glenn

History

Blue Origin New Glenn is a two-stage heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle developed in the United States. The standard New Glenn 7×2 configuration combines a reusable first stage with an expendable upper stage and is intended for commercial, civil, exploration, and national security missions.

Development of Blue Origin orbital launch systems began before the public announcement of New Glenn. The company began work on orbital systems and the BE-4 engine in the early 2010s, publicly described its orbital-launch ambitions in 2015, and formally introduced the New Glenn name and basic vehicle concept in September 2016. The rocket was named for John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth.

New Glenn reached orbit on its inaugural flight on January 16, 2025. By August 2026, the vehicle family had made three orbital or deep-space launch attempts, with two successful missions and one failed mission. Development has continued with propulsion and vehicle upgrades and the announced New Glenn 9×4 super-heavy configuration.

Development

Early Blue Origin concepts envisioned a reusable first-stage booster that would return for a powered vertical landing while an upper stage continued into orbit. Engine testing associated with the company's orbital plans was under way by 2012. In September 2016, Blue Origin publicly presented New Glenn as a 7 m diameter launch vehicle and initially discussed both two-stage and three-stage configurations.

The design evolved substantially after its announcement. In 2017, Blue Origin increased the diameter of the payload fairing from the earlier 5.4 m concept to 7 m. By 2018, the planned second-stage propulsion system had changed to two vacuum-optimized BE-3U engines using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The optional three-stage configuration was subsequently cancelled in 2019.

The program experienced repeated schedule changes from its original goal of an inaugural launch no earlier than 2020. New Glenn was not selected for the U.S. National Security Space Launch Phase 2 procurement in 2020, and Blue Origin later moved the first-flight target into 2022 and then 2023. By 2021, the company's published first-stage reuse objective specified a minimum of 25 flights rather than the earlier design goal of up to 100.

Physical integration became visible at Cape Canaveral in 2024. A non-flight-ready test vehicle consisting of first- and second-stage hardware was erected at Launch Complex 36 in February. A completed first stage was moved to the launch pad in October, and the Flight 1 vehicle reached the pad in November. A wet dress rehearsal followed on December 19, and a 24-second static fire was completed on December 27.

First flights

The first launch attempt on January 13, 2025 was scrubbed. New Glenn then launched successfully from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 on January 16. The upper stage and Blue Ring Pathfinder payload reached the intended orbital mission phase, while the first-stage booster, named So You're Telling Me There's a Chance, was lost during its recovery attempt.

On November 13, 2025, the second New Glenn mission launched the ESCAPADE spacecraft and a Viasat technology demonstration payload. The mission succeeded, and the first stage Never Tell Me The Odds completed New Glenn's first successful landing on the offshore landing platform Jacklyn.

Blue Origin announced major New Glenn upgrades on November 20, 2025. The company said higher-performing engines, propulsion changes, structural revisions, avionics improvements, a reusable fairing, a revised tank design, and an improved reusable thermal protection system would be phased into upcoming missions. According to the Blue Origin update, total thrust from the seven BE-4 engines was being increased from 17,219 kN to 19,928 kN, while total thrust from the two BE-3U upper-stage engines was being increased from 1,423 kN to 1,779 kN.

2026 missions and ground-test accident

New Glenn's third flight took place on April 19, 2026 with the BlueBird 7 satellite for AST SpaceMobile. It was the first flight of a reused New Glenn first stage. The booster landed successfully, but an upper-stage problem left the satellite in an off-nominal orbit that could not sustain its intended operations. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration required a mishap investigation and cleared New Glenn to return to service on May 22.

On May 28, 2026, another New Glenn vehicle was destroyed during a static fire test at Launch Complex 36. The accident also severely damaged the launch facility. No injuries were reported. Blue Origin's investigation attributed the anomaly to a faulty oxygen valve in one of the first-stage engines. The loss of the vehicle and damage to the pad disrupted the planned launch schedule.

Launch records compiled by KeepTrack list three New Glenn orbital or deep-space launch attempts through August 15, 2026: two successful missions in 2025 and one failed mission in 2026. A separate launch chronology records the same three flights and the May 2026 ground-test loss.

Design

New Glenn 7×2 is a two-stage, partially reusable launch vehicle with a diameter of 7 m. The first stage, designated GS1, is reusable, while the GS2 upper stage is expendable. Both stages use aluminum structures with orthogrid tank construction, welded aluminum domes, common bulkheads, and autogenous pressurization.

First stage

The New Glenn 7×2 first stage uses seven Blue Origin BE-4 engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen. After the 2025 performance upgrade announced by Blue Origin, total first-stage thrust was stated as 19,928 kN. The stage is designed to return through the atmosphere and perform a powered vertical landing on an offshore platform.

Blue Origin specifies the first stage for a minimum of 25 flights. The recovery system builds on powered-landing technology previously demonstrated with the company's smaller New Shepard vehicle. New Glenn achieved its first successful booster recovery on the NG-2 mission in November 2025 and recovered the reused booster again on NG-3 in April 2026.

Second stage

The GS2 upper stage uses two vacuum-optimized BE-3U engines fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Blue Origin's 2025 upgrade plan increased the stated combined thrust target from 1,423 kN to 1,779 kN. The standard 7×2 upper stage is expendable.

Blue Origin investigated a reusable upper-stage concept under Project Jarvis beginning in 2021. Work included stainless-steel tank structures and several possible recovery architectures. The company continued evaluating reusable and lower-cost expendable approaches through 2024, but reporting after New Glenn's first flight stated that Project Jarvis had been shelved.

Payload system and recovery

The standard vehicle uses a 7 m diameter payload fairing. Blue Origin has also announced a reusable fairing as part of upgrades intended to support higher flight rates. First-stage recovery is performed on the Landing Platform Vessel 1, also known as Jacklyn, positioned offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

Manufacturing and launch facilities

New Glenn is assembled at Blue Origin's Florida manufacturing facility near Cape Canaveral. Launch operations have been based at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Blue Origin and the U.S. Space Force also announced plans for New Glenn launches from Space Launch Complex 14 at Vandenberg Space Force Base to support polar-orbit missions.

The May 2026 static-fire explosion heavily damaged the active Cape Canaveral pad and disrupted subsequent missions. Blue Origin has also described a planned LC-36B facility intended to support the larger New Glenn 9×4 configuration.

Operational history

NG-1 launched on January 16, 2025 carrying the Blue Ring Pathfinder. The mission reached orbit, but the reusable first stage was lost during its landing attempt.

NG-2 launched on November 13, 2025 carrying NASA's ESCAPADE spacecraft and a Viasat demonstration payload. The mission succeeded and produced the first successful landing of a New Glenn booster.

NG-3 launched on April 19, 2026 carrying AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7. The reused first stage again landed successfully, but a second-stage anomaly left the payload in an unsuitable orbit and the satellite was subsequently de-orbited. The vehicle's 2025-2026 flight record is also summarized by Air & Space Forces Magazine.

New Glenn has been selected for commercial satellite deployment, NASA missions, lunar missions, and U.S. national security launch work. Planned payloads include Amazon Leo satellites, Blue Moon lunar landers, additional AST SpaceMobile spacecraft, and National Security Space Launch missions. Following the May 2026 pad accident, previously scheduled launches were left without firm dates.

Variants

New Glenn 7×2: The standard heavy-lift configuration. It uses seven BE-4 engines on the reusable first stage and two BE-3U engines on the expendable second stage.
New Glenn 9×4: A super-heavy configuration announced by Blue Origin in November 2025. It is designed with nine BE-4 engines on the first stage, four BE-3U engines on the second stage, and an 8.7 m payload fairing. Blue Origin states that it is designed to carry more than 70,000 kg to low Earth orbit, more than 14,000 kg directly to geosynchronous orbit, and more than 20,000 kg to trans-lunar injection. The company intends the 7×2 and 9×4 versions to serve the market concurrently but did not provide an official service-entry date in its announcement.