Blue Origin Breaks Ground: Historic New Glenn Rocket Lands, Paving Way for Mars Missions

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In a groundbreaking achievement, Blue Origin has successfully landed its Mars-bound New Glenn rocket, a major milestone in the company's pursuit of reusable rockets. This feat brings Blue Origin closer to rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 reusability model, setting the stage for future commercial and NASA missions. On November 13, 2025, the 321-foot-tall New Glenn rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the twin ESCAPADE spacecraft for NASA and a demonstration payload for Viasat. The mission marked a crucial step towards Blue Origin's goal of competing in the reusable rocket market. The New Glenn rocket's first-stage booster autonomously landed upright on the sea-based platform 'Jacklyn', approximately 375 miles off the Atlantic coast. The successful recovery phase has been hailed as a standout achievement by the AP. This is a significant improvement from New Glenn's inaugural launch in January 2025, which achieved orbit but failed to land the booster. The ESCAPADE spacecraft, set to arrive at Mars in 2027, will examine the planet's outer atmosphere and magnetic fields, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms behind Mars' transformation from a warm and wet planet to a dry and dusty one. The mission's data is expected to help scientists understand how to shield astronauts from intense radiation on Mars. According to Escapade's lead scientist, Rob Lillis of the University of California, Berkeley, 'We really, really want to understand the interaction of the solar wind with Mars better than we do now.' As the New Glenn rocket lands successfully, Blue Origin employees are already looking to the next challenge, chanting 'Next stop, moon!' according to the AP.