Named New Glenn, this is the first orbital rocket from Blue Origin—the company will now be using this launch vehicle to punch a geostationary satellite from Eutelsat Communications to orbit, thanks to a contract with Eutelsat Communications—this moving event should occur between 2021 and 2022.
Artistic rendition of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle in flight.
Image is courtesy of Blue Origin.
Announced at the current trade show in Washington D.C., this new partnership with Blue Origin reflects Eutelsat’s longstanding strategy to source launch services from multiple agencies in order to secure access to space and partner with launch agencies that combine the highest levels of performance, flexibility and competitiveness. The New Glenn launcher will be compatible with virtually all Eutelsat satellites, giving flexibility to allocate the mission 12 months ahead of launch.
Rodolphe Belmer, Eutelsat CEO, commented on the new relationship with Blue Origin by saying that Blue Origin has been forthcoming with Eutelsat on its strategy and convinced the firm they have the right mindset to compete in the launch service industry. Their solid engineering approach, and their policy to develop technologies that will form the base of a broad generation of launchers, corresponds to what Eutelsat expects from industrial partners. In including New Glenn in the Eutelsat manifest, the company is pursuing the longstanding strategy of innovation that drives down the cost of access to space and drives up performance. This can only be good news for the profitability and sustainability of our industry.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, added that Eutelsat is one of the world’s most experienced and innovative satellite operators and his company is honored that they selected Blue Origin and the New Glenn orbital launch vehicle. Eutelsat has launched satellites on many new vehicles and shares both Blue Origin's methodical approach to engineering and the firm's passion for driving down the cost of access to space. Welcome to the launch manifest, Eutelsat, can’t wait to fly together.
eutelsat.com/