Never Tell Me The Odds: NG-2 Hits Every Milestone

Although we didn’t get liftoff this time around (space is hard, after all), we did get to see Blue Origin’s new MASSIVE rocket up close in all her glory — and honestly, that alone was worth the trip.

We made it to the launch pad along with the rest of media crew and thanks to Starfleet Tours we had a sunset-boat view up close to the towering New Glenn rocket on launch pad 36. Credit: Rosie Johnson

Blue Origin’s second New Glenn rocket was originally targeting launch on November 9th, but weather (and a couple of rogue boats with terrible timing) pushed the schedule a couple of times. Once New Glenn finally got its “go” on November 12th, the vehicle cleared the pad with a flawless liftoff, hit all major ascent milestones, and delivered NASA’s ESCAPADE mission toward its interplanetary trajectory. To top it all off, the reusable booster stuck its first landing on Blue Origin’s drone ship Jacklyn, completing a picture-perfect recovery.

With the ESCAPADE mission, this is the first deep-space mission ever launched on a New Glenn and a major step forward for Blue Origin’s heavy-lift program. These twin satellites will study how the solar wind strips away Mars’ atmosphere. This data could help us understand both Mars and Earth’s future.

The New Glenn rocket tagged boldly with the Star Wars-inspired call-out “Never tell me the odds” Credit: Rosie Johnson

Why It Matters

New Glenn is big. Big in size and big in what it signals for the future of launch tech. Success here means deeper space becomes more accessible, more reusable, and more inclusive. Because with heavy-lift rockets like this, the launch window for the next big mission gets shorter.

Gradatim Ferociter

More Photos of Blue Origin's New Glenn 2