The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Friday that it has granted Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, a commercial space launch license for its New Glenn rocket. This move marks Blue Origin’s entry into a highly competitive arena, as the U.S. Department of Defense has selected the company, alongside SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (a Boeing-Lockheed joint venture), to compete for national security space missions.
The five-year license enables Blue Origin to conduct orbital missions from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with the reusable New Glenn first stage landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. The debut mission of New Glenn will serve as a certification flight required by the U.S. Space Force before the company can launch national security satellites.
Originally slated to launch NASA spacecraft to Mars, the New Glenn debut was delayed due to development setbacks, prompting NASA to move its spacecraft off the rocket. Instead, New Glenn will launch technology related to Blue Origin’s Blue Ring program, which provides maneuverable spacecraft for the Pentagon.
While SpaceX has dominated the launch industry with its Falcon 9 rocket and is testing its fully reusable Starship rocket, Blue Origin has faced challenges in bringing its New Glenn rocket to market. To accelerate development, the company appointed Amazon veteran Dave Limp in December of last year.
