China successfully launched and recovered the first stage of the new "New Glenn" carrier rocket.

On the 19th, Blue Origin launched a refurbished New Glenn heavy-lift rocket and successfully recovered the rocket's first stage on the sea. The company's live broadcast showed that at 7:25 a.m. Eastern Time on the 19th, New Glenn was launched from the space force base at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three minutes later, the rocket's first and second stages successfully separated. Nine minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the rocket landed on a recovery ship in the Atlantic Ocean as planned. After separating from the first stage, the rocket's second stage, carrying the Blue Bird 7 satellite, continued towards its intended orbit. The Blue Bird 7 satellite is a direct-to-mobile satellite for AST Space Mobile in the US, with a deployment area of up to 223 square meters for direct broadband services to ordinary mobile phones. The launch mission, codenamed "NG-3," was the third launch of New Glenn and the first time it used a refurbished first stage of the rocket, which was successfully recovered at sea during New Glenn's second launch in November last year. However, according to Blue Origin, all seven engines on this first stage of the rocket have been replaced, and the old engines previously used in missions will be used in future flights. New Glenn rocket is a reusable launch vehicle developed by Blue Origin and named after the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, John Glenn. The rocket made its first flight in January 2025, successfully achieving orbit, but at that time, it failed to recover the first stage as planned.