New Glenn

New Glenn, named after John Glenn, is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle operated by Blue Origin. Design work on the vehicle began in 2012. Illustrations of the vehicle, and the high-level specifications, were initially publicly unveiled in September 2016. New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 7 m (23 ft). Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also being designed and manufactured by Blue Origin. A more powerful variant known as 9x4 with nine BE-4 engines on the first stage and four BE-3U engines on the second stage is also planned. New Glenn's first stage is designed to be reusable with a propulsive landing on a recovery vessel.