Named for an Original

In 1962, John Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral and became the first American to orbit the Earth. More than sixty years later, a rocket carrying his name lifts off from the same stretch of Florida coast. This is the story behind the shirt.

The Rocket

• A 322-foot heavy lifterBlue Origin's New Glenn stands about as tall as a 30-story building, with a payload fairing 23 feet across.
• First stageSeven BE-4 engines burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The booster is built to fly at least 25 times.
• Second stageTwo BE-3U engines, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, finish the climb to orbit.
• Landing at seaAfter separation, the booster flies itself back and lands on a ship nicknamed Jacklyn, hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic.

Flight Log

• NG-1 · Jan. 2025New Glenn reached orbit on its very first try, carrying Blue Origin's Blue Ring Pathfinder. The booster was lost on its way back down.
• NG-2 · Nov. 2025It launched NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on their journey to Mars. This time the booster, nicknamed "Never Tell Me the Odds," landed on Jacklyn.
• NG-3 · Apr. 2026That same booster flew again, the first reuse of a New Glenn first stage, and landed a second time. An upper-stage engine came up short on thrust, though, leaving the BlueBird 7 satellite in too low an orbit.

Launch Complex 36

• New Glenn flies from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a historic pad that has hosted more than 100 launches, including generations of Atlas rockets.
• New Glenn's first flight in January 2025 was the pad's first launch in 20 years.
• In May 2026, a booster and upper stage were destroyed in an explosion during a ground test at the pad. Blue Origin has said it plans to fly New Glenn again before the end of 2026.

What's Next

• Batches of Amazon Leo internet satellites, dozens at a time.
• Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers, which NASA plans to use for robotic deliveries and, later, for carrying Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface.
• National security missions for the U.S. Space Force.