APR 19 (V7N) - Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, is set to make history on Sunday by reusing a booster for the first time in the launch of its New Glenn rocket. This move is significant in the competitive space race between Bezos and Elon Musk's SpaceX, with both tech giants aiming to push the boundaries of space exploration and reduce launch costs through reusable technology.

The New Glenn, towering at nearly 100 meters (328 feet), will be launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida sometime between 6:45 am and 8:45 am. The rocket will carry a communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile. While Blue Origin has previously launched New Glenn rockets, all previous missions have used new boosters. In contrast, the company has reused components in the smaller New Shepard rocket, which primarily serves the suborbital space tourism market.

The company's breakthrough came in November when Blue Origin successfully recovered a New Glenn booster, which made a controlled vertical landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. A previous attempt in January 2025 to recover the booster had failed due to engine failure during descent.

For this upcoming launch, the booster that will be reused has undergone refurbishment, with all of its engines replaced and several other modifications made to ensure its readiness for reuse. After liftoff, the rocket’s two stages will separate at high altitude. The upper stage will continue carrying the satellite into orbit, while the booster will descend and attempt to land on a barge, marking a crucial test of Blue Origin’s reusability capabilities.

The launch's success is critical for Bezos’s space ambitions, especially as his company competes with SpaceX in NASA’s Artemis program. Both companies are developing lunar landers to support the US space agency’s goal of returning astronauts to the Moon by 2028, a milestone set against the backdrop of growing space competition, especially from China.

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