But bigger isn't always better. In spaceflight, having more thrust means the rocket can travel farther, faster, and carry larger payloads. Although New Glenn will be more powerful than the space shuttle, the Saturn V rocket that delivered humans to the moon packed about twice as much liftoff power, with 7.5 million pounds of thrust. The New Glenn should top SpaceX's current Falcon 9 rocket, which lifts off with about 1.7 million pounds of thrust, but the upcoming Falcon Heavy is expected to push off with 5 million pounds of thrust--even though it's smaller than the New Glenn.