Official payload capacity data from Blue Origin and SpaceX or credible space news outlets

Blue Origin's New Glenn to Launch Sunday at Cape Canaveral with Blue Ring Pathfinder

Jan 11, 2025, 02:15 AM

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, is set to conduct the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday, January 12, 2025. The launch will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, within a three-hour window starting at 1 a.m. ET (0600 UTC). The New Glenn rocket, standing 30 stories tall, has been in development for over a decade and represents a significant milestone for Blue Origin as it aims to compete with SpaceX in the commercial space sector. The maiden flight will carry the Blue Ring Pathfinder and DS-1 flight system payloads, designed to test core flight systems, ground operations, and capabilities as part of the Defense Innovation Unit’s Orbital Logistics prototype effort. The rocket's first stage, equipped with seven BE-4 engines, is designed to land on a sea-based platform named Jacklyn LPV1 in the Atlantic Ocean, demonstrating reusability. With a payload bay diameter twice that of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, New Glenn is positioned as a heavy-lift vehicle capable of launching larger payloads. If successful, the launch could pave the way for Blue Origin to fulfill a backlog of contracts, including launching Amazon’s Kuiper satellite constellation. This effort is part of a broader competition among billionaire-owned space companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.