Billionaire Jeff Bezos-backed commercial space exploration company Blue Origin just revealed the first stage of the New Glenn rocket ahead of NASA's Mars mission next month.
Reusable First Stage
The first stage of the rocket, which is reusable like rival SpaceX's Falcon 9, was showcased in a video posted by the company's CEO Dave Limp on social media on Wednesday ahead of the NS-36 launch, which carried six humans into suborbital space on the New Shepherd rocket and was the company's 15th crewed flight.
"Lots going on today, but thought you might want another shot of the booster on the move," Limp said in the post.
The rocket would play a crucial role in NASA's ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers) mission, which will study the Red Planet's interactions with Solar Winds via launching two probes built by Rocket Lab Corp (NASDAQ:RKLB).
Blue Origin was notably the first company to send an all-women crew into suborbital space aboard the NS-31 mission earlier this year.
SpaceX's Progress, Rocket Lab's Mars Ambitions
The news comes as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently said that the company's flagship rocket, Starship, would help SpaceX put over 95% of Earth's Orbital payload into space. Starship recently conducted its 10th successful launch test after repeated setbacks and is gearing up for the 11th test launch.
Meanwhile, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck is eyeing possible collaborations with NASA on Mars and Venus exploration missions, sharing that the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), which could aid better communication between Mars and Earth, has been a part of the company's plans.
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