Technical issues force Blue Origin to again delay New Glenn rocket launch

New Delhi: Blue Origin on Monday again delayed the launch of its massive New Glenn rocket — now the third time in a row — citing technical issues.

The launch was initially scheduled for January 10 and then January 12, but Blue Origin postponed it due to rough offshore weather that could affect a rocket landing on the company’s recovery ship in the Atlantic.

Similar weather concerns existed for Monday’s attempt and Space Force officials forecast the chance of good liftoff conditions are 50 per cent at launch time.

After 2 hours into the launch window, the Jeff Bezos company announced that it had to delay the liftoff.

“We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window,” said Blue Origin, in a post on social media platform X.

The company did not immediately announce the next launch date noting that it is “reviewing opportunities”.

New Glenn’s inaugural mission (NG-1) is the company’s “first National Security Space Launch certification flight”.

The company noted that the main aim of the mission 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.

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

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

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, equivalent to the height of a 32-storey building, 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