Blue Origin targets January 10 for New Glenn rocket launch

New Delhi: Blue Origin is targeting January 10 for launch of its massive new rocket New Glenn, said the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ owned company on Tuesday.

“New Glenn’s inaugural mission (NG-1) is targeting no earlier than Friday, January 10, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida,” the company said in a blog post.

“NG-1 is our first National Security Space Launch certification flight,” it added.

New Glenn will carry a payload — Blue Ring Pathfinder, which will test key systems for the Defense Innovation Unit’s Orbital Logistics programme.

The company noted that the mission’s main aim is to reach orbit safely. It also plans to make an “ambitious” landing of the booster in the Atlantic — the company’s first try offshore.

“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,” he added.

In December, Blue Origin announced that New Glenn successfully completed the crucial hot-fire test. It was the first test of the integrated launch vehicle.

During the test, the vehicle remained firmly clamped to the launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

After the hot-fire test, the encapsulated Blue Ring Pathfinder was integrated into the launch vehicle. The company also received a commercial space launch license for New Glenn’s launch from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Blue Ring Pathfinder integrated. Launch license received. Here we go!” said Dave Limp, CEO, of Blue Origin in a post on social media platform X.

New Glenn’s debut launch was originally targeted for 2020 but delays in the BE-4’s development have postponed it repeatedly.

Standing 98 metres tall, New Glenn is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built and launched.

It is named after NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in 1962.

–IANS