Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn rocket will not fly today due to a technical problem

Elon Musk has postponed SpaceX’s seventh flight to next Wednesday. Blue Origin could take the opportunity to get ahead with the first launch of the New Glenn scheduled for today, but the company has finally decided to postpone it after a series of problems.

The space company founded by Jeff Bezos had begun the launch process of New Glenn at 7 in the morning (mainland Spanish time). Blue Origin engineers quickly discovered technical problems that they could not correct before the inaugural flight and that jeopardized the mission.

The cancellation of the first New Glenn flight It occurred at 9:09 after working against the clock to solve the failures of a subsystem of the ship. Blue Origin was only allowed to use the launch pad until 10:45 on January 13.

“Today we have decided to suspend the launch attempt to resolve a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We are reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt,” the company explained on its X account (Twitter ).

Blue Origin will attempt to launch New Glenn tomorrow

The cancellation of the New Glenn flight adds to the last postponement that was expected for last Friday, January 10. The justification at that time was different: the Atlantic waves could prevent the rocket from landing safely on the high seas.

Jeff Bezos’ company has achieved a second launch window. The United States Federal Aviation Administration has reported that New Glenn’s first flight will take place tomorrow at the same time if the company’s plans are met.

Blue Origin hopes to enter orbit with New Glenn, which would add to feats they have achieved in the past such as the controlled return of the first propulsion stage or the recovery aboard an unmanned vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

New Glenn will reach medium Earth orbit with a distance from Earth of 19,300 kilometers at the farthest point. Blue Origin could break a new record by sending the largest cargo launcher to date into space.

The ship is designed for transport with a 7-meter-high attached hull. New Glenn has space for a total of 30 capsules from the New Shepard rocket, another of the ships of the Amazon founder’s company.

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Tags: NASA, Jeff Bezos