The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, on January 11, 2025.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on Monday abandoned the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket after last-minute vehicle problems, dealing a blow to its attempts to compete with Elon Musk SpaceX in satellite space.
The launch was scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral, Florida starting at 1 a.m. ET.
“We are abandoning today’s launch attempt to address a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch timeline,” Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s vice president of space systems, said during a live broadcast of the planned liftoff.
She added that Blue Origin is considering options for the next launch attempt. During its mission on Monday, the rocket was ambitiously ready to land the first booster stage aboard the Jacklyn ship near the coast in the Atlantic Ocean for future reuse, with the rocket’s second stage continuing into orbit.
For its test flight — a prerequisite that often requires repetition before rockets are entrusted with national security payloads — New Glenn was to carry the company’s Blue Ring spacecraft, which can maneuver into multiple orbits and locations, along with hosting and deploying payloads.
“The launch team is now working on emptying the tanks and securing the vehicle. From there, we’ll assess what other things we want to do in our downtime, and that’s what will guide us when the next launch opportunity comes up,” Cornell noted Monday.
The 320-foot-tall, partially reusable New Glenn rocket faced multiple liftoff time delays before the final decision to abort the launch. The initial takeoff of the mission was repeatedly postponed until Monday due to unfavorable sea conditions for the landing of the support ship.
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, on January 10, 2025.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
Delays, technical difficulties and malfunctions are not uncommon in inaugural rocket missions. The Blue Origin project is known for its emphasis on sustainability.
“As part of the long-term vision, we really have to protect this planet. And the role of space technologies,” Cornell said. “That’s also why we started with reusable rockets and reusable engines.”
The path to Blue Origin’s first comprehensive trip to orbit has included three CEO appointments since the company was founded in 2000 and several suborbital launches carrying space tourists on the company’s $2.5 billion New Shepard. Blue Origin’s methane-burning BE-4 engines — present in New Glenn — were also used in United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, which reached orbit twice last year.
Tech billionaires have more and more he tried to venture into space exploration — traditionally the purview of government programs — offering commercial opportunities in both satellite launches and space tourism.
Musk’s SpaceX has dominated the empire in recent years, boasting A total of 433 launches from Jan. 13 and aims to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit on Monday. Richard Branson Virgin Galacticmeanwhile, it took its first space tourists to the edge of space in 2023.