New Glenn Orbital Rocket From Blue Origin Will Ferry Eutelsat’s Satellite to Geostationary Orbit

The 'New Glenn' orbital rocket from billionaire Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin, has snagged its first satellite customer.

Eutelsat Communications, in a statement, said it has sought the services of Blue Origin to employ New Glenn to be used in launching Eutelsat Communications' geostationary satellite in between 2021 and 2022.

Alongside the announcement, Blue Origin released a video animation that illustrates the stages its reusable New Glenn rocket will go through from launch to its landing. Watching the video animation, it comes sort of like déjà vu, which looks highly similar to what another tech billionaire's company has been doing.

The video clearly demonstrates the exact process, from taking off, rocket stage separations, its landing at sea and the capsule delivery of its payload. It should not be surprising since it is widely known that Elon Musk's Space X and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are both working on similar concepts when it comes to their rockets, according to c|net.

Space.com reported that Blue Origin's rocket is named after NASA Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. New Glenn is capable of lifting up to 13 metric tons of payload into geostationary orbit and 45 metric tons into low-Earth orbit.

To accomplish this, Blue Origin unveiled its plans for a two-stage and three-stage rocket versions of New Glenn. Both rocket stages are said to be reusable, with each rocket powered by seven BE-4 engines. Accordingly, the optional third-stage will use BE-3 engines.

Currently, Blue Origin is constructing a 750,000-square-foot production outfit for its New Glenn rockets in Exploration Park, next to NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company is also in a new contract to sell BE-4 engines to United Launch Alliance to drive its new Vulcan Rocket.

Moreover, test launches of its New Shepard rocket have been successful, including its landings. The company plans to use this rocket to carry payloads and ferry passenger to suborbital heights. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are in a race towards sustainable space flight by employing rockets that can be landed.

Furthermore, both companies are engaged, reportedly in their aim to be the first company to bring humanity back on the moon.