Bezos’ Blue Origin postpones debut New Glenn launch over last minute issue

• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin delayed the launch of its New Glenn rocket on Monday during the mission countdown, delaying by at least a day its first attempt to reach orbit and compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch market.
• Blue Origin released a statement explaining that they decided not to launch as planned “to address a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window.”
• New Glenn is carrying the first prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for national security and satellite maintenance missions.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin On Monday, it delayed the launch of its New Glenn rocket after “several anomalies” during the mission countdown, delaying the launch of its New Glenn rocket by at least a day and its first attempt to compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch market.

The 30-story partially reusable New Glenn sat on Blue Origin’s launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ready for a flight originally scheduled for 1 a.m. ET (0600 GMT) after loading the engines with methane and liquid oxygen .

‘SPACE COAST’ CONGRESSMAN SETS GOAL FOR AMERICAN MOON MISSIONS

But at the end of the countdown, Blue Origin pushed back the liftoff time several times, bringing New Glen’s launch window to a close at 4 a.m. A company spokesperson said in a live broadcast that mission teams were investigating “several anomalies.”

“We are abandoning today’s launch attempt to resolve the vehicle subsystem issue, which would take us beyond our launch window,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “We are reviewing options for our next launch attempt.”

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket stands ready during a launch test that was later delayed for at least 24 hours at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 13, 2025. (Reuters/Steve Nesius)

The delay could be at least 24 hours, but is likely longer as the company investigates the high-risk, high-stakes mission.

The culmination of a decade-long, multibillion-dollar development journey, the flight, once lifted, will include an attempt to land New Glenn’s first stage booster on a dock in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after takeoff while the rocket’s second stage continues into orbit.

“What we’re most nervous about is the stimulus landing,” founder Bezos Blue origin told Reuters in a pre-production interview in 2000. “Obviously on the first flight you can have an anomaly at any stage of the mission, so anything can happen.”

Secured inside New Glenn’s payload is the first prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for national security and satellite maintenance missions.

The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket prepares for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 11, 2025. (Reuters/Joe Skipper/File Photo/Reuters)

Getting a spacecraft into its intended orbit on its first launch would be a rare feat. space company.

“If we could do that, it would be a huge success,” Bezos said. “Landing the booster will be icing on the cake.”

CLICK HERE to get the FOX NEWS app

New Glenn’s development has involved three Blue Origin CEOs and faced numerous delays as Elon Musk’s SpaceX has turned into an industry juggernaut with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, the world’s most active rocket.

Bezos moved to speed things up at Blue Origin in late 2023, prioritizing development of New Glenn and its BE-4 engines.He named CEO Dave Limp, an Amazon veteran who employees said brought a sense of urgency. compete with SpaceX.

The New Glenn is more than twice as powerful as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and has dozens of customer launch contracts totaling billions of dollars.