#new-glenn

#new-glenn

Several new rockets made their first flights this year. Blue Origin's New Glenn was the most notable debut, with a successful inaugural launch in January followed by an impressive second flight in November, culminating in the booster's first landing on an offshore platform. Second on the list is China's Zhuque-3, a partially reusable methane-fueled rocket developed by the quasi-commercial launch company LandSpace. The medium-lift Zhuque-3 successfully reached orbit on its first flight earlier this month, and its booster narrowly missed landing downrange.

For one, it launched a pair of NASA spacecraft named ESCAPADE, which are headed to Mars orbit to study that planet's magnetic environment and atmosphere. The twin spacecraft will first travel to a Lagrange point, a place where the gravity between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun balances. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will remain there until Mars is in better alignment to travel to.

A blast from the Sun kept Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket on the pad as the Northern Lights forced NASA to halt the launch. It has not been a good week for Jeff Bezos' rocket. A planned launch on November 9 was scrubbed due to weather, and the Blue Origin team had hoped to get the New Glenn off the pad on November 12, but it was not to be. While skywatchers were admiring an aurora, NASA scientists were fretting about the effects of the solar storm.

Two companies, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and China's LandSpace, could join SpaceX's exclusive club as soon as next month. (Bezos might claim he's already part of the club, but there's a distinction to be made.) Each company is in the final stages of launch preparations-Blue Origin for its second New Glenn rocket, and LandSpace for the debut flight of its Zhuque-3 rocket.