Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Pushes New Glenn Launch To No Earlier Than Sunday Due To Adverse Weather Conditions

Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin said on Thursday that the company has postponed the first launch of its New Glenn rocket to orbit to no earlier than Jan. 12.

What Happened: Blue Origin was previously looking to launch New Glenn on Friday. The company on Thursday said that they have pushed the date due to a high sea state in the Atlantic where it hopes to land the vehicle’s booster.

The three-hour launch window on Sunday will now open at 1 a.m. EST.

The key objective for the mission is to reach orbit safely. The company is also looking to land the booster of the vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean after launch. The company said in a statement that the booster landing is "ambitious but we are going for it"

“This is our first flight and we’ve prepared rigorously for it,” said Jarrett Jones, SVP, New Glenn. “But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations is a replacement for flying this rocket. It’s time to fly. No matter what happens, we’ll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.”

Why It Matters: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized the first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn vehicle in late December. The commercial space launch license, valid for five years, allows Blue Origin to conduct orbital missions from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with the New Glenn.

New Glenn is a reusable heavy-lift rocket named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The development of the vehicle, expected to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon launch vehicle, has been delayed for years.

New Glenn, unlike Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, can reach the Earth’s orbit and beyond. New Shepard, meanwhile, can only reach the edge of space.

New Glenn’s first launch will mark the rocket's first National Security Space Launch certification flight. It will carry the company's Blue Ring Pathfinder – developed by Blue Origin's In-Space Systems business unit – as a payload.

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Photo courtesy: Blue Origin