Aerospace firm Blue Origin’s powerful New Glenn rocket marked a significant milestone this past Thursday, November 13. Newly released footage now offers an exclusive glimpse, allowing viewers to revisit a key moment from that pivotal day for the heavy-lift launch vehicle.
On Thursday afternoon, New Glenn successfully completed its second-ever launch from Florida’s Space Coast, propelling NASA’s twin ESCAPADE Mars probes on their journey toward the Red Planet.
Adding to its achievements, the colossal first stage of the two-stage rocket executed a flawless, scheduled return to Earth. It performed a pinpoint landing aboard Blue Origin’s autonomous drone ship, “Jacklyn,” which was stationed approximately 375 miles (604 kilometers) offshore.
Until now, this complex and dramatic maneuver had been accomplished by just one company: SpaceX, the undisputed pioneer of reusable orbital-class rocket technology.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos enthusiastically marked the successful return of the New Glenn booster, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share a series of videos. The captivating footage showcased the colossal 188-foot (57-meter) rocket stage meticulously navigating its controlled descent through the sky, ultimately steering toward the recovery ship, Jacklyn.
A video of the landing revealed the booster executed a lateral maneuver, shifting horizontally to position itself over the Jacklyn recovery platform, rather than descending directly from above.
In a Friday (Nov. 14) X post, Jeff Bezos announced that the initial landing target for their New Glenn booster is intentionally “a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn,” its recovery ship. This precautionary measure is designed to mitigate the risk of a severe impact should the engines fail to ignite or experience delayed startup.
Bezos indicated that this conservative buffer would be incrementally reduced in future missions as confidence in the system grows. He also expressed widespread excitement and gratitude for the previous day’s operations, commending the team for their “amazing performance.” The post concluded with Blue Origin’s guiding motto, “Gradatim Ferociter” (Latin for “Step by Step, Ferociously”).
The Latin phrase “Gradatim Ferociter,” meaning “Step by Step, Ferociously,” serves as the official motto for aerospace company Blue Origin.
In a move reflecting the high stakes of rocket recovery, Blue Origin has christened the first stage of its booster, which completed a flight on Thursday, “Never Tell Me the Odds.” The bold name is a direct acknowledgment of the often-improbable quest for a successful vertical touchdown.
In a historic first for space exploration, Blue Origin successfully landed a large booster on its second attempt, an achievement the company’s CEO, Dave Limp, celebrated as unprecedented.
“It turns out ‘Never Tell Me The Odds’ had perfect odds — never before in history has a booster this large nailed the landing on the second try,” Limp stated in a company release.
The successful recovery marks a significant milestone for Blue Origin, with Limp indicating it’s merely the beginning of an ambitious expansion. He added that the company plans to “rapidly scale our flight cadence and continue delivering for our customers.”
Blue Origin confirms that each New Glenn first stage is engineered for a minimum of 25 flights. Post-landing imagery of the booster, named “Never Tell Me the Odds,” revealed it to be remarkably pristine and intact, a condition that suggests its potential for rapid redeployment.
