Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, has been granted a license by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket. The license approval marks a significant milestone for the company as it prepares to compete in the commercial space industry with its heavy-lift launch vehicle.

Blue Origin has officially entered the highly competitive field it has long aimed to join, as the U.S. Department of Defense selected the company—alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture, United Launch Alliance—to vie for national security space missions.

The FAA has granted Blue Origin a five-year license to carry out orbital missions from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. According to the FAA’s statement, the reusable New Glenn rocket’s first stage is designed to land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after each launch.
The inaugural New Glenn mission will serve as a certification flight mandated by the U.S. Space Force, paving the way for the company to begin deploying national security satellites.
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