Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is ready to take off. After some weather-related delays over the weekend, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company said the $2.5 billion reusable rocket, in development for nearly 13 years, target its first launch no earlier than Monday, January 13. Its three-hour launch window begins at 1:00 a.m. ET. The webcast will begin one hour before launch and you can watch New Glenn take flight on Blue Origin. website, X or that of the company YouTube channel.
New Glenn’s inaugural mission (NG-1) will serve as the first national security certification flight for the Space Force, necessary to compete with SpaceX for Department of Defense and National Intelligence contracts. Its reusable first stage is designed for at least 25 flights. Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production.
Blue origin describe New Glenn as “our giant, reusable rocket designed for bigger things.” The “giant” aspect is appropriate: the rocket measures more than 98 m high. As for its “bigger things,” they include the metaphorical (like potential Mars missions) and the literal: it can carry more than 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 13 to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). . For comparison, rival SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy can lift nearly 64 metric tons to LEO and nearly 27 tons to GTO orbit.
On its maiden voyage, New Glenn will carry a prototype of the company’s multi-purpose Blue Ring Pathfinder. The craft is designed to transport, refuel and host satellites and other spacecraft and can carry three tons of cargo into space. Friday’s launch will test Blue Ring’s key flight/ground systems and operational capabilities.
After New Glenn lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, its reusable first stage will land on a barge, “Jacklyn,” floating several hundred miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.
New Glenn, named after pioneering astronaut John Glenn, completed its first launch countdown dress rehearsal on December 27. After several attempts to countdown over a few hours, the rocket’s seven BE-4 engines ignited and fired for 24 seconds (spending 13 seconds at 100 percent). thrust), paving the way for Friday’s targeted launch. The rocket’s first flight was originally planned for October, carrying two NASA satellites to Mars, but the launch was canceled because it would not be ready by then.
