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New Glenn Rocket launch challenges Elon Musk's space dominance
bbc.
The rocket race between the world's two richest men has heated up. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company is preparing to launch its first big rocket into orbit. This is a direct challenge to the space business of Elon Musk, who leads the company SpaceX.
Blue Origin, Bezos's company, is expected to launch its New Glenn rocket from Florida soon. The rocket is designed to be more powerful than SpaceX's most-used rocket, called the Falcon 9.
This upcoming launch is a big step for Blue Origin. The company has been slower than SpaceX for many years. But now, Bezos wants to use New Glenn to launch many satellites. This is for his project called Project Kuiper. It would compete directly with Elon Musk's own satellite internet service, called Starlink.
Blue Origin's CEO, Dave Limp, has said the team is "incredibly proud." Elon Musk has even written notes on social media expressing support for Bezos.
The launch process has faced challenges. Earlier in the week, ice on the rocket caused a delay. But the team fixed the problem. Blue Origin employees and spectators are expected to cheer as the huge 98-meter tall rocket takes off.
However, the launch has not been perfect in the past. The company tried to land the main part of the rocket back on Earth in the ocean. They wanted to use it again for a future flight. This is called a reusable rocket. They have had difficulty maintaining contact with the rocket stage to land it.
Bezos started Blue Origin 25 years ago. His goal is to have many people living and working in space. Before New Glenn, the company sent a smaller rocket, New Shepard, on short trips. It even carried Bezos himself in 2021.
But SpaceX has done much more. Last year alone, SpaceX launched its rockets 134 times. SpaceX is also building a new, even more powerful rocket called Starship.
Experts say having two strong companies is good. It could create real competition and might make space travel cheaper for everyone.
In the past, governments like NASA paid for almost all space projects. Now, NASA gives big contracts to private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to build rockets. SpaceX has already received contracts worth billions of dollars. This private race is changing how humans explore space.
The New Glenn rocket is named for John Glenn. He was the first American astronaut to orbit Earth over 60 years ago. The new rocket is part of a new chapter in the long story of spaceflight.