Jeff Bezos introduced the latest concept from his company Blue Origin at the Satellite 2017 conference, the New Glenn rocket, which features a reusable first stage. Blue Origin released a video detailing the rocket's specs.
The rocket doesn't exist yet, but it already has a customer. Satellite provider Eutelsat will be the rocket's first client.
"We couldn't hope for a better first partner," Bezos announced as he was joined onstage by Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of the French-based satellite company.
The rocket's inaugural trip is scheduled for 2021, giving Blue Origin a few years to perfect its reusable rocket technology. The company plans to safely land the rocket's first stage and reuse it with a quick and simple turnaround process.
"We need to get to a place ultimately that is much more like commercial airliners," Bezos said.
The New Glenn rocket will come in two forms — a two-stage and three-stage. Both rockets will be 23 feet in diameter. The two-stage will be 270 feet tall, while the three-stage will rise 313 feet. Both will be larger than SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
Blue Origin also offered updates on the progress of its newest engine this week, the BE-4. Engineers unveiled the engine, fully assembled for the first time, on Monday.
The BE-4 will power the New Glenn's second stage. United Launch Alliance also plans to use BE-4 to power its new rocket, the Vulcan.
Flight Hardware for NASA's Space Launch System on Its Way to Cape
The interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System rocket is on its way by barge to United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Operation Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The ICPS is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based system that will provide the thrust needed to send the Orion spacecraft and 13 secondary payloads beyond the moon … read more
