Blue Origin Marks First Landing of Reused New Glenn Rocket Booster, Ratcheting up SpaceX Rivalry

Source: US News & World Report

“Jeff Bezos'[s] Blue Origin on Sunday ⁠said ⁠its New Glenn rocket booster ⁠touched down after its launch, marking its first landing of ​a reused booster. The rocket, which had a launch window of 6:45 a.m. to 12:19 p.m. ET ‌on Sunday, lifted off at ‌around 7:25 a.m. ET (1125 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the booster touchdown happened ⁠about 10 ⁠minutes later. New Glenn carried AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite to low-Earth ​orbit in a flight that marks a pivotal step for the company. The mission was key to demonstrating that New Glenn, a 29-story heavy-lift rocket, has a reliable booster reuse capability and can ​compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.” (04/19/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-04-19/blue-origin-says-it-has-landed-reused-new-glenn-rocket-booster