New Glenn

New Glenn

The inaugural launch of New Glenn, on 16 January 2025
Function	Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Blue Origin
Country of origin	United States
Project cost	At least US$2.5 billion[1]
Cost per launch	US$68–110 million[2][3]
Size
Height	98 m (322 ft)[4]
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	45,000 kg (99,000 lb)[5][6]
Payload to GTO
Mass	13,600 kg (30,000 lb)[5][6]
Payload to TLI
Mass	7,000 kg (15,000 lb)[7]
Associated rockets
Comparable	Angara A5 Ariane 6 Falcon Heavy Long March 5 Vulcan Centaur
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC‑36 Vandenberg, SLC‑9 (future)
Total launches	1
Success(es)	1
Landings	0 / 1 attempt
First flight	16 January 2025
Carries passengers or cargo	Blue Moon NSSL
First stage – GS1
Height	57.5 m (189 ft)
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Empty mass	20,000 kg (44,000 lb)[8]
Gross mass	950,000 kg (2,090,000 lb)[8]
Powered by	7 × BE-4[8]
Maximum thrust	17,100 kN (3,850,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	340 s (3.3 km/s) (vac.)
Burn time	190 seconds[9]
Propellant	LOX / CH4
Second stage – GS2
Height	23.4 m (77 ft)
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Empty mass	8,000 kg (18,000 lb)[8]
Gross mass	50,000 kg (110,000 lb)[8]
Powered by	2 × BE-3U[8]
Maximum thrust	1,600 kN (350,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	445 s (4.36 km/s)
Burn time	644 seconds[9]
Propellant	LOX / LH2
[edit on Wikidata]

New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket is designed to have a partially reusable, two-stage design with a diameter of 7 meters (23 ft). The first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, while the second stage relies on two BE-3U engines, all designed and built in-house by Blue Origin. It launches from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36, with future missions planned from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 9.

Development of New Glenn began prior to 2013 and was officially announced in 2016. The rocket is named in honor of NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The inaugural vehicle was unveiled on the launch pad in February 2024. Its maiden flight took place on 16 January 2025, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft, marking the first launch from LC-36 since NROL-23 in 2005. This mission served as the first of several demonstration launches required to be certified for use by the National Security Space Launch program.

Similar to Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital rocket, used for space tourism, the New Glenn's first stage is designed to be reusable and land on a barge called Landing Platform Vessel 1. New Glenn has not yet achieved a booster landing. In 2021, the company launched Project Jarvis, an initiative aimed at making the second stage reusable as well.