Blue Origin Unveils Composites Nose Cone for New Glenn Rocket

Blue Origin, the company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has completed the first carbon composite nose cone for its new orbital rocket, the New Glenn.

With a diameter of 7 metres the company claim that the nose cone or payload fairing is the “largest contiguous composites fairing ever built” and can hold up to 50 per cent more than its closest competitor.

Named after pioneering astronaut John Glenn, New Glenn is a single configuration heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of carrying people and payloads to Earth’s orbit and beyond. The crafts fully reusable first stage is designed for a minimum of 25 flights making it competitive for a variety of launch markets.