Blue Origin’s comeback: Can Jeff Bezos’ rocket finally rival SpaceX?

Under a dark Florida sky, Blue Origin’s New Glenn roared to life for a 40-second hotfire, marking a defining test ahead of its first NASA launch — and a new era for Jeff Bezos’ space ambitions.

The upcoming EscaPADE launch will send twin spacecraft to Mars — NASA’s first dual-orbiter science mission to study the planet’s plasma environment and the solar wind that shapes its atmosphere.

Standing over 320 feet tall, New Glenn aims to rival SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy — and Thursday’s static fire proved its seven BE-4 engines can unleash controlled chaos worthy of deep-space missions.

The BE-4s, powered by liquefied natural gas and oxygen, fired in unison, lighting up Cape Canaveral’s night. Engineers called it “flawless,” a moment that moves Blue Origin one step closer to Mars.

The test came after a false ignition an hour earlier, teasing tension before the engines’ triumphant second attempt — a spectacle of power, precision, and perseverance for Bezos’ dream rocket.

Blue Origin’s first New Glenn booster failed to relight and was lost at sea. This time, the company is betting on “Never Tell Me the Odds” — a name as daring as its mission to defy them.

After launch, Blue Origin will try again to recover the massive booster on its barge “Jacklyn,” named after Bezos’ mother. A successful landing could prove New Glenn’s reusability once and for all.

If recovery succeeds, the same rocket could later launch the Blue Moon Mk. 1 lander — a robotic pathfinder that paves the way for astronauts to return to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis 5 mission.

With this test, Bezos’ Blue Origin inches closer to competing head-on with Elon Musk’s SpaceX — both racing not just to the Moon, but to redefine humanity’s foothold beyond Earth.