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Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin is preparing for the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida early Monday, approaching a crucial debut in Earth orbit that will mark a major step toward the long-awaited goal of competing with Elon Musk‘s SpaceX in the satellite launch market.
The mission, which will take off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is the culmination of a decades-long, multibillion-dollar development journey.
That will involve attempting to land the New Glenn’s booster first stage on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after liftoff, while the rocket’s second stage continues toward orbit.
“The thing we’re most nervous about is the booster landing,” Mr. Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, said in an interview before the launch.
“Clearly on the first flight you can have an anomaly at any stage of the mission, so anything can happen,” Bezos added.
Secured inside New Glenn’s cargo hold is the first prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a mobile spacecraft the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial clients for national security and satellite servicing missions.
The launch has been cancelled
The launch of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Glenn rocket has been delayed after several hours of delay.
Writing on X, the company said: “We are abandoning today’s launch attempt to address a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch period.
“We are considering options for our next launch attempt.”
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 08:14
Blue Origin faces last-minute delays
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin prepared for the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida early Monday, but extended the mission’s countdown to study unspecified last-minute issues as it neared a key debut in Earth orbit to break into the satellite launch market.
The 30-story-tall, partially reusable New Glenn launcher sat on Blue Origin’s launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ready for liftoff originally scheduled for 1 a.m. (6 a.m. GMT) after being fueled with methane and liquid oxygen.
But late in the countdown, Blue Origin repeatedly pushed back the liftoff time, nearing the end of New Glenn’s 4 a.m. launch window.
By 2:20 a.m., a company spokesperson said live that mission teams were examining “several anomalies,” without elaborating on what they were.
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 08:12
Blue Origin rocket planned for launch
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is preparing for the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida early Monday, moving closer to a key debut in Earth orbit that will mark a major step toward its long-awaited goal of competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch market.
The mission, which will take off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is the culmination of a decades-long, multibillion-dollar development journey.
That will involve attempting to land the New Glenn’s booster first stage on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after liftoff, while the rocket’s second stage continues toward orbit.
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:56
A key goal for getting safely into orbit, Blue Origin says
Blue Origin’s key goal is to reach orbit safely, and anything more than that is “icing on the cake,” the company said.
Writing on X, Blue Origin said: “We want to be clear about our goals. This is our first flight and we have rigorously prepared for it.
“But no amount of ground testing or mission simulation is a substitute for flying this rocket. Our key goal today is to get safely into orbit.
“Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. We know landing a booster on our first attempt at sea in the Atlantic is ambitious – but we’re going for it.
“No matter what happens, we will learn, refine and apply that knowledge in our next launch.”
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:46
New departure time at 8.15 GMT
We are now looking at liftoff in just over 30 minutes at 8.15 GMT (2.48 EST).
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:43
The new Glenn is twice as powerful as Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket
Development of New Glenn spanned three Blue Origin executives and faced numerous delays as Elon Musk’s SpaceX grew into a huge industry with its reusable Falcon 9, the world’s most active rocket.
Bezos moved to speed things up at Blue Origin in late 2023, prioritizing the development of New Glenn and its BE-4 engines.
He named Dave Limp, an Amazon veteran who employees say has brought a sense of urgency to compete with SpaceX, as CEO.
The new Glenn is more than twice as powerful as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and has dozens of launch contracts with customers that are collectively worth billions of dollars.
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:38
Pictured: The new Glenn rocket ready for launch
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:29
Watch live: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos launches Blue Origin rocket to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX
Alexander Butler13 January 2025 07:25