In New Glenn’s cargo bay is the first prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft.
The American company Blue Origin, founded by the boss of Amazon Jeff Bezoscanceled the launch of its New Glenn rocket after “some anomalies” during the mission’s countdown Monday, postponing by at least a day an inaugural attempt to reach orbit and compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch market.
Measuring 30 stories tall, the launcher New Glennpartially reusable, was placed on the firing point of Blue Origin at the Cape Canaveral space station, ready for a liftoff initially scheduled for 1:00 a.m. ET (06:00 GMT) after being fueled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants. But in the final moments of the countdown, Blue Origin repeatedly pushed back the liftoff time, moving closer to the end of New Glenn’s launch window at 4:00 a.m. ET. A company spokesperson indicated live that the mission teams were examining “some anomalies”.
We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We’re reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt.
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1878715911563313651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“We are interrupting today’s launch attempt to resolve a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window”Blue Origin finally declared in a press release. “We are studying the possibilities for our next launch attempt”. The delay could be at least 24 hours, but is likely to be longer as the company considers the issue for this high-risk, high-stakes mission.
The culmination of a decade of development and a multi-billion dollar investment, the flight, if it takes place, will include a attempted landing of New Glenn’s first stage on an Atlantic Ocean barge 10 minutes after takeoffwhile the second stage of the rocket continues its journey towards orbit. “What worries us most is the landing of the booster”said Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, in an interview with Reuters before the launch. “It is clear that during a first flight, an anomaly can occur at any phase of the mission, so anything can happen”he added.
-New Glenn’s inaugural mission is targeting January 13. Our three-hour launch window opens Monday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).
Join us here for the webcast hosted by Ariane Cornell and Denisse Aranda beginning an hour before launch! pic.twitter.com/SkuvkZ3m8s
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1878544427884449928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In New Glenn’s hold is the first prototype of the Blue Ring vehicle the Blue Origin, and maneuverable space engine. which the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for national security and satellite servicing missions. Getting the spacecraft into the intended orbit in a first rocket launch would be a rare feat for a space company. “If we succeed, it will be a great success”added Jeff Bezos. “The booster landing would be the icing on the cake”.
New Glenn is more than twice as powerful as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and has already garnered dozens of launch contracts, worth a total of several billion dollars.
