Blue Ring Pathfinder Receiving Data, Performing Well

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket successfully launched from Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:03 a.m. EST on January 16, 2025, and attained its primary goal of reaching its intended orbit carrying the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload module, which is functioning as expected.

The secondary goal of the mission, landing New Glenn’s booster on the droneship So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, was not successful.

Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin said, ”We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring.”

Blue Ring Pathfinder did not contain any payload on this flight, but it is receiving data and performing well, according to the company. It will be used to launch Amazon’s Project Kuiper program to deliver thousands of internet satellites into low Earth orbit.

The New Glenn is a two-stage rocket, with the first stage booster powered by seven BE-4 engines and the second stage using two BE-3U engines that can be restarted and function normally in the vacuum of space.

Jarrett Jones, SVP of New Glenn said, "Today marks a new era for Blue Origin and for commercial space. We're focused on ramping our launch cadence and manufacturing rates. My heartfelt thanks to everyone at Blue Origin for the tremendous amount of work in making today's success possible, and to our customers and the space community for their continuous support. We felt that immensely today."

FMI:  www.blueorigin.com/