'A wonderful show for any rocket enthusiast': Blue Origin shows SpaceX it can do reusable rockets too by landing 'Never Tell Me The Odds'

We've got another space first to report today: Blue Origin has successfully reused a rocket booster for the first time, managing to get the 'Never Tell Me The Odds' rocket back to its landing pad in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the third New Glenn (NG-3) mission.

The rocket booster was first used with the NG-2 mission last November, and having recovered it that time, Blue Origin has now shown it can be deployed again. It means the company can now better compete with SpaceX when it comes to these reusable rockets.

Liftoff happened at 7.25am ET (4.25am PT / 12.25pm BST / 9.25pm AEST), and the 'Never Tell Me The Odds' booster arrived back on its floating Jacklyn droneship around 10 minutes later, after finishing the job of pushing its payload into orbit.

And that payload is also notable: it's the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite, which is effectively going to act as a giant cell tower in space (it boasts a massive antenna measuring 2,400 square feet or 223 square meters). It gets us a big step closer to global satellite coverage for modern smartphones.

A major satellite expansion

As with reusable rockets, Amazon and Blue Origin are competing with SpaceX and Starlink when it comes to satellite communications. SpaceX is hoping to begin the process of launching thousands of its Starlink V2 satellites sometime next year.

The idea is that our phones will be able to connect to them without any hardware or software upgrades — these satellites will be smart enough and powerful enough to mimic a regular cell tower, with 4G and 5G speeds, from all the way up in orbit.

It'll take years before the space satellite network is ready to go beyond emergency communications — and pricing and carrier partnerships will need to be worked out along the way — but BlueBird 7 is a sign of the direction we're heading in.

Reaction to the launch on social media has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic (perhaps buoyed by the recent Artemis II mission), with livestream viewers describing the experience as "a wonderful show for any rocket enthusiast" and simply "amazing". You can read more about the New Glenn missions on the Blue Origin website.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

The best laptops for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best laptops
1. Best overall:
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5
2. Best budget:
Apple MacBook Neo
3. Best Windows 11 laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch
4. Best thin and light:
Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i
5. Best Ultrabook
Asus Zenbook S 16