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Blue Origin New Glenn

The most recommended of 5 launch vehicles

Heavy-lift rocket that has flown successfully and recovered its booster, adding launch capacity; critics doubt cost claims and point to delays and failures.

Heavy-lift rocket that has flown successfully and recovered its booster, adding launch capacity; critics doubt cost claims and point to delays and failures.

45 people gave an opinion

recommend it
28
criticize it
17
approval share
62%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 6 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: not recommended
  3. January 2026: not recommended
  4. February 2026: recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: not recommended
  9. July 2026: not recommended
  10. August 2026: not recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: not recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it doesn’t carry the badge

  • 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
  • Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

What people say about it

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Why people recommend it

Each mark is one comment

  • Impressive engineering and hard feat

    “New Glenn production is a lot more classical aerospace in terms of a high tech cleanroom factory being built from the start”

    Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

    “Insane that it took a decade for another company to do it, but better late than never.”

    Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

    “the teams there pulled off one of the hardest feats in all of spaceflight”

    Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”
  • Higher payload capacity than Falcon

    “The New Glenn 9x4 has a higher targeted payload capacity that an expended Falcon Heavy.”

    Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

    “New Glenn significantly increases the capacity to Low Earth Orbit”

    Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

    “Their payload fairing volume is a new capability.”

    Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”
  • Strong second launch provider

    “think having a strong second launch provider is a good thing. Hope Blue Origin catches up even more”

    Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

    “new glenn will only make the space industry as a whole better”

    Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

    “Blue Origin has now destroyed SpaceX's cost advantage.”

    Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”
  • Successful early orbital launches

    “I'm more impressed by them being (probably...) 2-for-2 on their very first couple orbital launch attempts.”

    Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

    “Really super glad to see they have hardware that has successfully done all the things.”

    Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Frequent delays and slow development

    “Blue Origin's tortoise slow-and-steady approach to development ia increasingly looking stupid.”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

    “Now they're looking at significant delays to a network that's already years behind Starlink.”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on the pad during static fire test; no injuries”

    “The longer it takes for Blue Origin to work out the flaws in their system”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Why the failure of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is so catastrophic”
  • Failures damage launch infrastructure

    “High profile failures that take out launch infrastructure are undesirable because the cost to that is much much higher than just losing the rocket.”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

    “If you don't have high profile failures like this, you aren't taking enough R&D risk.”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”
  • Performance and cost claims unproven

    “That New Glenn is more economical then Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy is a huge assumption and I will only believe it when I see it.”

    Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

    “it doesn't even have the same payload capacity that Falcon Heavy had eight years ago”

    Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

    “New Glenn's engines are quite a bit less efficient than those at SpaceX.”

    Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Starship V3”
  • Relies on Bezos funding

    “They are hobby project for the richest man on the planet and they don't compete for investment $ with other companies like RocketLab.”

    Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

    “They remain a complete nonplayer that exists only through the good fortune of endless and clearly unconditional Bezos bucks.”

    Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

Other launch vehicles people recommend

The four most recommended other launch vehicles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.

Blue Origin New Glenn compared with 4 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
Blue Origin New GlennThis page281762%6——
Falcon Heavy16480%11—Approved
SpaceX Falcon rockets130100%7—Approved
Rocket Lab launch services11285%7—Approved
Ariane 6111444%6——
See all 5 launch vehicles, ranked

What people said

40 of the 53 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“Take 'first flight' with a massive grain of salt. And the 'return to flight' with a smaller amount.”

CriticizesComment from 30 Oct 2026 in “SpaceX No longer needs NASA”

“designing around Starship or New Glenn”

RecommendsComment from 21 Sep 2026 in “NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead”

“That New Glenn is more economical then Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy is a huge assumption and I will only believe it when I see it.”

CriticizesComment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“They are hobby project for the richest man on the planet and they don't compete for investment $ with other companies like RocketLab.”

CriticizesComment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“I really don't think there's anything particularly derisked about NG + Blue Moon 2 compared to Starship HLS.”

CriticizesComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“The longer it takes for Blue Origin to work out the flaws in their system”

CriticizesComment from 29 May 2026 in “Why the failure of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is so catastrophic”

“High profile failures that take out launch infrastructure are undesirable because the cost to that is much much higher than just losing the rocket.”

CriticizesComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“Blue Origin's tortoise slow-and-steady approach to development ia increasingly looking stupid.”

CriticizesComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“If you don't have high profile failures like this, you aren't taking enough R&D risk.”

MixedComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“it doesn't even have the same payload capacity that Falcon Heavy had eight years ago”

CriticizesComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn blows up during static fire test”

“Now they're looking at significant delays to a network that's already years behind Starlink.”

MixedComment from 29 May 2026 in “Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on the pad during static fire test; no injuries”

“New Glenn's engines are quite a bit less efficient than those at SpaceX.”

CriticizesComment from 13 May 2026 in “Starship V3”

“arguably equal to Super Heavy given they've also recovered and reused their heavy booster”

RecommendsComment from 22 Apr 2026 in “SpaceX and Cursor partnership. Right to acquire Cursor later this year”

“after the coming New Glenn launch”

MixedComment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Elon Musk buys a fifth of his own Cybertrucks”

“technologies like Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn getting ready, the future is bright!”

RecommendsComment from 28 Mar 2026 in “No one is happy with NASA's new idea for private space stations”

“Falcon Heavy and now New Gleen can do most things SLS can”

RecommendsComment from 1 Mar 2026 in “NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays”

“He congratulates Jeff Bezos for New Glenn, and rightly so”

RecommendsComment from 26 Nov 2025 in “OpenAI needs to raise at least $207B by 2030”

“"Or seems like the poster child for second system syndrome."”

CriticizesComment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“They remain a complete nonplayer that exists only through the good fortune of endless and clearly unconditional Bezos bucks.”

MixedComment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“That seems pretty promising”

RecommendsComment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“New Glenn production is a lot more classical aerospace in terms of a high tech cleanroom factory being built from the start”

RecommendsComment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“The New Glenn 9x4 has a higher targeted payload capacity that an expended Falcon Heavy.”

RecommendsComment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“Thing that doesn’t exist yet will have better specs than thing that’s been in use for over 7 years!”

CriticizesComment from 20 Nov 2025 in “New Glenn Update”

“Their payload fairing volume is a new capability.”

RecommendsComment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“think having a strong second launch provider is a good thing. Hope Blue Origin catches up even more”

RecommendsComment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“they still could use this gigantic working rocket as a (probably still) very cost effective to transport things into space”

RecommendsComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“Blue Origin has now destroyed SpaceX's cost advantage.”

RecommendsComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“the teams there pulled off one of the hardest feats in all of spaceflight”

MixedComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“New Glenn isn't bringing any new capabilities to the table.”

MixedComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“New Glenn significantly increases the capacity to Low Earth Orbit”

RecommendsComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“It's quite an elegant machine.”

RecommendsComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“new glenn will only make the space industry as a whole better”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“new glenn seemed to take forever compared to starship”

MixedComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“Im pretty impressed at how simple that idea is”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“controllers lost telemetry from the stage sometime after the entry burn started”

CriticizesComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“We should be impressed they did it before their patent expired.”

MixedComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“Insane that it took a decade for another company to do it, but better late than never.”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“Really super glad to see they have hardware that has successfully done all the things.”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“I'm more impressed by them being (probably...) 2-for-2 on their very first couple orbital launch attempts.”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

“the rocket itself cut through”

RecommendsComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.