Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, is set to attempt a major milestone on Sunday by reusing a booster for the first time in a launch of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket.
The move comes as competition intensifies with SpaceX, led by Elon Musk. A successful mission could significantly cut costs and increase launch frequency for Blue Origin, bringing it closer to its rival’s reusable rocket model.
Standing nearly 100 meters (328 feet) tall, New Glenn is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral within a launch window between 6:45 am and 8:45 am (GMT 1045–1245). The rocket will carry a communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile.
While Blue Origin has launched New Glenn twice before, this marks the first time it will attempt a flight using a previously flown booster. The company has prior experience reusing hardware on its smaller New Shepard vehicle, though that system operates under less demanding conditions.
In November, Blue Origin successfully recovered a New Glenn booster for the first time, achieving a controlled vertical landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. An earlier attempt in January 2025 had failed when the booster’s engines did not reignite during descent.
For Sunday’s mission, the reused booster has been refurbished, with all engines replaced and additional modifications made to ensure reliability.
After liftoff, the rocket’s stages will separate mid-flight, allowing the upper stage to carry the satellite into orbit while the booster returns to Earth for another landing attempt at sea.
The outcome will be closely watched, as New Glenn is central to Bezos’s long-term space ambitions. Blue Origin is also competing with SpaceX in NASA’s Artemis program, with both companies developing lunar landers.
The United States is aiming to return astronauts to the Moon by 2028 — a target aligned with the timeline set during the presidency of Donald Trump — amid growing competition from China in the new era of space exploration.
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