New York: Jeff Bezos on Tuesday unveiled his space company Blue Origin's latest ship: a rocket-catching recovery boat named after his mom.The 600-foot ship, newly named Jacklyn, is designed as a floating landing point for the first-stage booster of New Glenn, the company's 310-foot rocket scheduled to begin launching in 2021.Blue Origin acquired the boat, previously known as the Stena Freighter, in 2018 but soon set out to refurbish and rename it.Jacklyn Bezos cracked a bottle of champagne against the ship's hull in a ceremony on Tuesday, and her son posted a video of the event on Instagram."New Glenn's first stage will come home to the Jacklyn after every flight," he said. "It couldn't be more appropriately named - Mom has always given us the best place and best heart to come home to."
On December 17, Blue Origin secured a major agreement with NASA to allow the New Glenn to take part in future missions, including planetary expeditions and satellite launches.New Glenn is set to make its first launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2021. Jacklyn - the boat - will sit in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting for the rocket's first-stage booster, which will be programmed to land itself on the vessel after detachment.SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace company, uses two autonomous drone ships to land the Falcon 9 rockets' first-stage boosters. They are called "Of Course I Still Love You" and "Just Read the Instructions" - a tribute to Iain M. Banks' "Culture" series of sci-fi novels.