Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its New Glenn rocket from Florida.
The rocket carried two NASA spacecraft destined for Mars. The Escapade satellite will take 22 months to reach Mars and will orbit the planet to measure its atmosphere and magnetic field.
The reusable booster that powers New Glenn also separated from the rocket’s upper stage and landed on a floating landing pad in the Atlantic Ocean in Blue Origin’s first success.
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX was the first to achieve the feat with an orbital rocket in 2015, and Blue Origin followed suit.
