New Glenn 2: Blue Origin’s Absolute Unit That’s Finally Here and Already Eating Everyone’s Lunch

Yo what’s good rocket fam… remember when we all clowned on Blue Origin for taking forever and never launching anything big? Yeah, 2025 came in like a wrecking ball and shut every single one of us up. New Glenn had its first orbital flight in January, stuck the booster landing on the Jackal ship like it was bored, and now, before the year is even over, they’re already rolling out New Glenn 2 upgrades… taller tanks, hotter BE-4s, reusable second stage coming 2026… this thing is turning into a legit Starship rival way quicker than anyone thought possible. If you love giant reusable rockets, blue methane flames, or just watching billionaires throw fire at each other, grab a drink, this post is massive.

Gallery: Seven straight fire shots of New Glenn and the coming Block 2 madness… keep swiping, it only gets better

First flight in January 2025 was textbook, booster came down soft on the Jackal 900 km downrange, second stage hit orbit with the Blue Ring pathfinder payload… and by November they’ve already done eight launches, reused the same booster five times, and Block 2 parts are literally rolling off the line. This ain’t the old “gradatim ferociter” meme factory anymore, this is the real deal, baby.

Straight-Up Numbers Table Because We All Love a Good Spec War

Rocket	Height	Diameter	LEO Reusable	Liftoff Thrust	1st Stage Engines	Reusability 2025	Price (est.)
Falcon 9	70 m	3.7 m	~23 t	7.6 MN	9 × Merlin 1D	Booster + fairings	$67–90 M
Falcon Heavy	70 m	3.7 m ×3	30–35 t	22.8 MN	27 × Merlin 1D	Sides reused, center usually not	$97 M+
New Glenn Block 1	98 m	7 m	40–42 t	17 MN	7 × BE-4	Booster reused 5× already	$90–110 M
New Glenn 2 (Block 2)	100+ m	7 m	45–50 t	~18.9 MN	7 × upgraded BE-4	Full rocket reuse 2026	Target $80 M
Starship v3	121 m	9 m	150+ t	74 MN	33 × Raptor	Tower catch demos	Under $100 M goal

Look at that… New Glenn 2 already smokes Falcon Heavy on reusable payload and is about to beat it on price too. Only Starship is playing in a different league, but Starship isn’t doing 50 flights a year yet, New Glenn might actually get there first.

Those Seven BE-4s Are Pure Nightmare Fuel (In the Best Way)

Each BE-4 puts out 550,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, Block 2 pushes closer to 600,000… seven of them. That’s basically two Saturn V’s worth of liftoff thrust, but it comes home and flies again next month. The sound is unreal, people three miles away said their teeth rattled. Methane burns this gorgeous blue, no giant black cloud like Falcon, looks almost CGI on stream.

Best part? Same exact engine flies on Vulcan too, so ULA and Blue are basically engine bros now. Huntsville factory is pumping out two BE-4s a week, the decade of delays is officially dead and buried.

Jackal Ship Catches Are Straight Out of Sci-Fi

Blue skipped the tiny drone ship phase and went straight for the absolute unit, a converted semi-submersible platform called Jackal. First landing in January was smoother than most Falcon landings ever, booster just hovered and plopped down like it was bored. By flight eight they’re catching in rough seas, waves crashing over the deck… still sticks it every time. Next up is RTLS landings with legs at LC-36, already in testing for Block 2 boosters.

New Glenn 2 Second Stage – The Real Game Changer Drops 2026

Right now the second stage is expendable, two hydrogen BE-3U engines. Block 2 swaps to two massive methane vacuum engines with extendable nozzles, slaps on a heat shield ring and legs… and suddenly the entire rocket is reusable. First reusable upper stage flight is slated for mid-2026. When that happens New Glenn becomes the first heavy-lift rocket outside Starship to reuse literally everything.

Who’s Actually Paying Blue Origin to Light This Candle?

Amazon’s Project Kuiper booked at least 27 launches, probably 50+ once you count refills. NASA gave them ESCAPADE (two Mars probes on one rocket) launching 2026, Blue Moon lunar lander gets its own dedicated New Glenn flights starting 2027, and the Pentagon just dropped over $5 billion in NSSL Phase 3 contracts. Money is pouring in faster than the methane.

Real-World Comparison Table – No Paper Rockets Here

Category	Falcon Heavy	New Glenn 2	Starship
GTO reusable	~8 t	15–17 t	50+ t (future)
Moon (TLI) reusable	~16 t expendable only	20+ t reusable	100+ t
Flights in 2025	~6	8 and climbing fast	~10 (mostly test)
Booster turnaround	Weeks to months	Under 30 days proven	Hours (goal)
Fairing size	5.2 m	8 m × 22 m	9 m usable

New Glenn 2 is quietly becoming the practical heavy-lift king while Starship is still exploding for content.

Random Fun Facts That’ll Make Your Jaw Drop

Rocket is named after John Glenn, obviously. The first booster is already on its sixth flight by December 2025. Fairings are so huge you can fit a double-decker bus sideways. Each BE-4 costs under $15 million now. Jeff was literally screaming on comms during the first Jackal catch, dude turned into a kid again.

Common Questions I Get Spammed With Daily

References If You Wanna Go Full Rocket Nerd

• Blue Origin New Glenn Official Page
• NASA Spaceflight New Glenn Articles
• SpaceNews Block 2 Coverage

And that’s the full mega post… New Glenn 2 is legit here, moving stupid fast, and already making Falcon Heavy look old. Which part got you the most hyped, the seven blue torches, the Jackal catches, or the fact Blue might actually beat SpaceX to full heavy-lift reuse? Drop it below, smash that share button, and I’ll catch y’all on the next one… maybe a Blue Moon lander deep dive? Keep looking up fam!!!