We will have to wait a little longer to see Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket take off for the first time.
Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, aimed to launch its first New Glenn heavy-duty rocket from Florida’s Space Coast this morning (January 13), during a three-hour window that lasted open at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT). ).
Blue Origin pushed back the planned launch time several times before finally calling off the attempt around 3:10 a.m. EST (0810 GMT).
“We are abandoning today’s 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 announced via X.
That post did not identify the subsystem or problem, nor did the hosts of the company’s launch webcast.
Related: Blue Origin: Everything you need to know about the private spaceflight company
This is not the first launch delay of the 98-meter-tall New Glenn, which has a reusable first stage.
Blue Origin had initially planned to carry out this first mission, which it calls NG-1, on Friday January 10, but postponed the test for 72 hours due to rough seas in the part of the Atlantic Ocean where the first stage of the rocket should arrive. land. (If all goes as planned, this landing will take place on a ship nicknamed Jacklyn, named after Bezos’ mother.)
Blue Origin has a few days to resolve the issue; the current NG-1 launch window extends to January 16. The test flight will launch a scout version of Blue Ring, a new spacecraft platform built by the company.
New Glenn, in development for about a decade, is Blue Origin’s first orbital-class rocket. The company already operates a reusable suborbital vehicle called New Shepard, which takes people and payloads on brief trips to space.