About five days ago, New Glenn's first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' successfully touched down on the drone ship 'Jacklyn' for the first time, becoming the second orbital-class rocket booster to do so in history. That landing, after being guided by two aerodynamic strakes and four fins, was enabled by three BE-4 engines igniting to decelate the booster, before swapping to just one for a precise landing.

During the landing, 'Never Tell Me The Odds' wasn't targeting 'Jacklyn' initially, with Blue Origin's owner Jeff Bezos explaining:

"We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time."

Quickly after the landing, the first-stage booster was secured via energetic welding of New Glenn's landing legs to the deck while a remotely controlled vehicle safing robot attached to it to offload leftover propellant and commodities.

Since November 15th, 'Jacklyn' has been sailing back to its home base, Port Canaveral at Cape Canaveral, with it slowing just before coming within one hundred miles. On November 17th, the drone ship was in a holding pattern just beyond the horizon, slowly peaking just over it.

New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' onboard the drone ship 'Jacklyn' sailing back towards Florida. ©Blue Origin
New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' onboard the drone ship 'Jacklyn' sailing back towards Florida. ©Blue Origin

Finally, on November 18th, 'Jacklyn' entered Port Canaveral with 'Never Tell Me The Odds' towering over it and other vessels. Now in the port, the first-stage booster will be removed from the drone ship for transportation back to Blue Origin's New Glenn production and refurbishment site next to the Kennedy Space Center for post-flight inspections. Those inspections will determine what hardware needs to be replaced or repaired before a second mission for the booster.

New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' onboard 'Jacklyn' at Port Canaveral. ©Blue Origin
New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' onboard 'Jacklyn' at Port Canaveral. ©Blue Origin

The next flight of New Glenn is currently being eyed for early 2026 for the first mission with the Blue Moon Mk1 lunar lander, which will see the rocket send it toward a trans-lunar trajectory while landing the booster on 'Jacklyn' again. It remains to be seen if 'Never Tell Me The Odds' will fly that mission, as a new booster is reportedly close to completion.

New Glenn's beautiful second launch

Blue Origin's two-minute recap of New Glenn's second flight, via Blue Origin on Twitter.

New Glenn lifting off from Launch Complex 36 under the power of its seven BE-4 engines, via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.

New Glenn's second-stage seen separating from the first-stage from inside the interstage, via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.

Two BE-3U engines igniting on New Glenn's second-stage after ascent using the first-stage booster, via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.

A view from onboard New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' during its descent and landing onboard the drone ship 'Jacklyn', via Dave Limp on Twitter.

A camera on the drone ship 'Jacklyn' see's New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' touchdown, via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.

New Glenn first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' seen landing on the drone ship 'Jacklyn', via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.

A view from New Glenn's second-stage looking back at Earth following two successful burns, via Jeff Bezos on Twitter.