Blue Origin New Glenn Landing

Blue Origin New Glenn Landing

This is the approximate trajectory of the Blue Origin New Glenn booster during a launch.

The New Glenn booster will be recovered on every mission.

Glide

The two “wings” on the lower half of the booster are for aerodynamic lift; however, their purpose hasn’t been officially given (besides Bezos’s statements that it helps reduce entry stresses.) It’s a good guess that they’ll be used (in conjunction with the four maneuvering fins mounted to the interstage) to perform wide S-turns in the upper atmosphere, to help bleed off speed without severely impacting downrange distance (which would require the recovery vessel to travel far further than necessary.)

Landing

The booster lands atop the deck of a moving ship. It’s been confirmed that the ship will in fact be moving at the time of landing, and that it’s not just an artistic liberty taken by the animators. Bezos said that the moving ship increases stability; in addition, the simple linear motion of the ship isn’t very hard to account for.

I personally expect New Glenn to nail the landings on the moving ship.

This infographic was created by Jon Ross. Contact me if you'd like to use it anywhere.