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What was the name of the drone ship on which Blue Origin's New Glenn booster first landed in November 2025?

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Jacklyn - current events illustration
Jacklyn — current events

On November 13, 2025, Blue Origin achieved a significant milestone in reusable rocketry when the first stage of its New Glenn booster successfully landed on the drone (Deals) ship named Jacklyn. This historic event occurred during New Glenn's second flight, known as the NG-2 mission, which also launched NASA's twin ESCAPADE probes on their journey to Mars. The successful recovery of the booster at sea marked Blue Origin as only the second company, following SpaceX, to accomplish such a feat with an orbital-class rocket, demonstrating a critical step towards more cost-effective space travel.

The drone ship itself, officially designated Landing Platform Vessel 1 (LPV1), holds a special significance in its name, Jacklyn, as it honors Jacklyn Bezos, the mother of Blue Origin's founder, Jeff Bezos. This purpose-built barge, measuring 380 feet long and 150 feet wide, was specifically designed to serve as the landing pad for the towering New Glenn first stage, which stands 57.5 meters (189 feet) tall with a 7-meter (23-foot) diameter. While another vessel previously bore the name Jacklyn and was considered for this role, it was ultimately retired, leading to the development of this new, specialized landing platform.

The ability to land and reuse rocket boosters is central to Blue Origin's vision of making space access more routine and affordable. The New Glenn first stage is engineered for extensive reusability, designed to fly a minimum of 25 missions. In a testament to this reusability, the booster that landed on Jacklyn during the NG-2 mission, affectionately nicknamed "Never Tell Me The Odds," is already slated for its next flight, demonstrating the rapid turnaround capabilities Blue Origin aims to achieve. This pioneering effort with Jacklyn is a crucial advancement in the ongoing race to develop fully reusable rocket technology.