Blue Origin’s huge new rocket has a nose cone bigger than its current rocket

Blue Origin has been working toward sending tourists to the edge of space aboard its New Shepard rocket, but its next-generation vehicle will be much more out of this world and be able to carry far more beyond our planet, too.

The space company owned by Amazon founder and occasional richest-earthling-ever, Jeff Bezos, is building a massive rocket dubbed New Glenn that will rival SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy.

Over the past week, the company has been sharing some behind-the-scenes looks at New Glenn’s development. It’s notable just how big the new vehicle will be. As Blue Origin’s New Glenn program head Jarrett Jones explains in the video below, its 7-meter (23 foot) wide nose cone (also known as a fairing) is actually big enough that it could fit an entire New Shepard rocket inside. 

In other words, this rocket is big enough to carry another rocket as its cargo. 

The hope is that Blue Origin and New Glenn will be able to compete with the likes of SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing) to launch large satellites. 

Of course, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that both Elon Musk and NASA have been working on even bigger new rockets. The SpaceX Starship and NASA’s Space Launch System are aiming to be among the most powerful rockets ever built, if not the most powerful.

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Not to be outdone, Bezos has said New Glenn will be followed by New Armstrong, which some speculate might compete with Starship, SLS — vehicles designed to carry astronauts to the moon or even Mars.

But so far, no real details have been released about New Armstrong, including whether it will be big enough to carry New Glenn in its nose cone, which would be truly impressive.