After years of delays, the billionaire’s Blue Origin space company launched its New Glenn rocket early Thursday

Micah MaidenbergJan. 16, 2025 at 2:17 am

“All of the things we want to do in the future rely on New Glenn,” Bezos said in a recent interview. 

New Glenn measures more than 320 feet tall. It is designed to conduct regular flights using reusable boosters, lofting commercial and national-security satellites into orbit. The rocket eventually is meant to launch astronaut crews.

It is also years behind schedule. Blue Origin had intended to have New Glenn readyyears ago but struggled with technical and production setbacks. Bezos said he believes Blue Origin can move faster in the future, as the company pushes to improve the vehicle and steps up manufacturing.

The launch just after 2 a.m. ET had been postponed several times. On Jan. 13, the company called off the attempt because ice built up on a power-unit component.

The mission is designed for New Glenn to carry systems into orbit for a company spacecraft called Blue Ring and have the booster land on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean so it can be reused.

With a successful first flight, Blue Origin could fly New Glenn as many as six to eight times this year, according to Dave Limp, the former Amazon executive Bezos hired in 2023 as Blue Origin’s chief executive.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

This article will be updated as news develops.