Skip to content 
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture approached launch time for the first-ever orbital flight of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, but a persistent technical issue prompted a delay.
The launch was set to take place from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station but was postponed shortly after 3 a.m. ET (midnight PT). The launch window was set to close at 4 a.m. ET.
“We are standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window,” said launch commentator Ariane Cornell. “We are reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt.”
The launch had been delayed twice in recent days due to unfavorable sea conditions in the Atlantic where New Glenn’s first-stage booster was to land. The calm seas raised hopes for a successful launch tonight, but it wasn’t to be.
Whenever it occurs, this launch marks a significant milestone. Blue Origin has been sending smaller New Shepard rockets on suborbital flights for years, but New Glenn aims to lift payloads into Earth’s orbit for the first time.
If successful, New Glenn would introduce more competition for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and provide opportunities for projects ranging from satellite constellations to lunar missions and a commercial space station.
“We need to lower the cost of access to space … and that’s what New Glenn, our orbital vehicle, is all about,” Bezos said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in December.
New Glenn has been in development since 2012. In 2015, Bezos announced the orbital-class rocket—named after NASA astronaut John Glenn—would be constructed at a 750,000-square-foot facility in Florida.
The rocket stands over 320 feet (98 meters) tall and has a 7-meter-wide (23-foot-wide) payload fairing, offering twice the volume of a standard 5-meter fairing. The entire New Shepard rocket could fit inside it.
New Glenn’s first stage employs seven BE-4 engines fueled by liquefied natural gas, while the second stage uses two hydrogen-fueled BE-3U engines. The rocket generates up to 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff—approximately half the power of the Saturn V moon rockets. It can carry up to 99,000 pounds of payload into low Earth orbit, which is 50% more than NASA’s space shuttle.
Blue Origin encountered challenges during New Glenn’s BE-4 engine development, but persists despite setbacks.
This mission, NG-1, primarily aims to reach orbit while carrying the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload, which tests telemetry, communications, and control systems for Blue Origin’s multi-mission space platform.
NG-1 also aligns with the Defense Innovation Unit campaign to enhance in-space mobility for the Pentagon. The flight will serve as Blue Origin’s first certification mission for the Pentagon’s National Security Space Launch program.
New Glenn’s second stage will deploy the payload into a unique elliptical orbit ranging from 1,490 to 12,000 miles (2,400 to 19,300 kilometers) in altitude to evaluate in-space systems and ground infrastructure.
The first-stage booster is made to land on a custom-built barge named Jacklyn, after Jeff Bezos’ mother. However, sea conditions must be calm, and last week they were too rough to allow for landing.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp clarified that the mission’s triumph rests on reaching orbit, regardless of the booster’s landing success. “Our objective is to reach orbit. Anything beyond that is a bonus,” Limp posted on X. “Landing our booster offshore is ambitious—but we’re going for it. No matter what, we will learn a lot.”
Blue Origin has multiple New Glenn rockets in production and a full slate of customers for future launches.
Notable missions will involve launching satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation and AST SpaceMobile’s space-based network. Future plans include sending orbiters to Mars for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission.
This is an updated version of a report first published on Jan. 11.
