BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — At 2:03 am Blue Origin successfully launched its heavy lift New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after technical difficulties forced the company to scrub another launch attempt earlier this week.
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Large crowds lined Space Coast beaches to see the rocket lift off on its maiden flight.
Isabelle Paradise told Eyewitness News, “Seeing it go off into the clouds. That was probably the coolest part, other than the takeoff, obviously.”
New Glenn’s first stage booster missed its landing aboard the Launch Recovery Vessel, Jacklyn, named after the mother of Blue Origin and Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.
However, the inaugural flight hit the mark when New Glenn successfully reached its intended orbit!
Read: SpaceX loses spacecraft after catching rocket booster during test flight
Dr. Ken Kremer with Space UpClose commented, “They accomplished their primary objective, Blue Origin. They got the new Glenn Rocket to orbit. Both stages ignited. Both stages worked. They’re getting data from the payload, the Blue Ring payload, the Pathfinder. He added, now they would have liked to land it, too. Icing on the cake, as they said. But that’s not critical for this mission.”
In an email statement, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said, “I’m incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt.” He also stated, “We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal.
We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring. Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone.”
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