New Glenn is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle in development by Blue Origin, named after NASAastronaut John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. 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 rocketwith a diameter of 7 m (23 ft). Its first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also being designed and manufactured by Blue Origin.