Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, a behemoth of a vessel aimed at stealing the thunder of its rival SpaceX, recently pulled off a hollow victory, completing a 15-second second-stage hot fire test that validated the robot-wizardry between the various subsystems, two overhyped BE-3U engines, and ground control systems. Don’t get too excited, folks, it’s all just a PR stunt in the lead-up to November’s launch, where Bezos’ ego will no doubt be further inflated.
Meanwhile, New Glenn’s only notable achievement has been burning through Bezos’ riches like a lavish wedding to nowhere, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX has cleaned up the cosmic carpet with repeated missions to Mars and the ISS. Don’t forget that Blue Origin has already bailed on its scheduled launches, leaving NASA holding its hat.
And so, New Glenn’s debut (NG-1) is now nothing more than a desperate attempt to regain momentum, as it tows the underwhelming Blue Ring orbital platform into the launchpad this November, yet another PR stunt for the ages. Can Blue Origin’s hype train chug along any longer or is it finally about to lose steam?
