Blue Origin hot fires New Glenn rocket for first time and scores FAA license for test launch
Blue Origin fired up its new heavy-lift orbital rocket for the first time just hours after receiving federal clearance to conduct its maiden launch.
Standing atop Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company’s New Glenn rocket conducted a successful 24-second seven-engine hotfire on Friday night (Dec. 27). It was the first time that the entire launch vehicle operated as a integrated system.
"This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what's just around the corner for New Glenn's first launch," said Jarrett Jones, Blue Origin’s senior vice president for New Glenn, in a statement. “[This] success proves that our rigorous approach to testing — combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering — is working as intended."
The static firing of New Glenn’s first stage BE-4 rocket engines concluded a multi-day test campaign that included inert functional and tanking tests. The vehicle was configured with the first and second stages it will use on its first test flight, NG-1, and a payload test article made-up from manufacturing test demonstrator fairings, a high-capacity fixed adapter flight unit and a 45,000 pounds (20,400 kilograms) payload mass simulator.
