Blue Origin unveils a super-heavy version of its New Glenn rocket that’s longer than a Saturn V rocket

After a completely successful second flight of its massive new rocket, Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has just revealed designs for a larger version of the launch system. The new-look New Glenn will be longer than the historic Saturn V rocket and on par with SpaceX’s Starship.

This superheavy version of New Glenn will have nine of the company’s rocket engines in the booster stage, and four in the upper stage. That’s up from seven and two, respectively, in the current version, which Blue Origin says will continue to fly alongside the super-heavy version. Blue Origin now refers to the two versions as the New Glenn 9×4 and New Glenn 7×2.

This additional firepower will increase the total thrust of the New Glenn booster and allow it to carry “more than 70 metric tons to low Earth orbit,” just below the Starship’s current theoretical capacity of 100 metric tons. SpaceX is working on new versions of Starship that could double that number.

The larger New Glenn will have a much larger fairing (the frontal armor covering the rocket’s payload) to allow for larger payloads at the top of the rocket. The additional capability will put Blue Origin in play for missions centered around “megaconstellations, lunar and deep space exploration, and national security imperatives like the Golden Dome.”

Blue Origin is currently competing with SpaceX to help with NASA’s missions to the moon, and the company is clearly testing that possibility in its New Glenn 9×4 launch Thursday.

The illustration shows a theoretical view from the ground looking at the new superheavy rocket shortly after liftoff. Do you look larger than usual on top of the rocket? the moon.

The 7×2 version of New Glenn received some updates on Thursday as well. Total thrust has increased, and will now have reusable interfaces. Other smaller upgrades have been made in order to reduce the time taken between launches, according to Blue Origin.

The company hasn’t set a date for the next launch yet, but it now appears to be set for early 2026. According to CEO Dave Limp, Blue Origin may soon attempt to launch the Blue Moon Mark 1 unmanned lunar lander to the moon.