In its second launch, Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn rocket launched two Mars orbiters from the US space agency, NASA, into space. Live footage shows a heavy rocket belonging to space company Blue Origin taking off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida.
The rocket successfully reached space on its first flight in January. This time, New Glenn also managed to land a lower rocket stage safely on board for the first time – an important step for recycling and cost reduction. The booster landed upright on its platform 600 kilometers offshore.
The start of the 98 meter long New Glenn had previously been postponed twice. Once because of bad weather and once because of concerns about the possible impact of a solar storm. The first flight took place in January.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk congratulated the launch
Through the Escapade mission, NASA, among other things, wants to research the atmosphere of Mars. The two identical orbiters will now stay near Earth for one year and position themselves at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers. As soon as Earth and Mars are in the right constellations next fall, the two probes will use Earth’s gravity to fly to the Red Planet and arrive there in 2027.
In the future, Blue Origin wants to help the company with the New Glenn rocket SpaceX Compete with the companies that currently dominate commercial space travel. SpaceX boss Elon Musk congratulated Blue Origin on its successful launch.
