Blue Origin gives up on New Glenn lift-off, 2 hours into launch window
- Reference: 1736769865
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/13/blue_origin_gives_up_on/
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Rocket fanciers who were up at 0600 UTC for the opening of the launch window saw repeated resets of the countdown clock before Jeff Besoz's company eventually threw in the towel, citing problems with a subsystem.
In a [1]post on X, Blue Origin said: "We're standing down on today's launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We're reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt."
[2]Blue Origin postpones New Glenn's maiden flight to January 12
[3]First launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket slated for January 10
[4]Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin waves bye bye to October 13 ESCAPADE
[5]50 launches, 1 knighthood – Rocket Lab CEO talks heavy-lift rockets, Venus, and Musk
During the broadcast until the scrub, references were made to "issues" the company was working on throughout the countdown. The decision to scrub the launch after multiple countdown resets was therefore not a huge surprise, particularly considering this is the very first launch of the rocket.
Blue Origin is in good company. NASA, for example, famously scrubbed the Artemis I launch attempt due to a liquid hydrogen leak. The monster rocket finally [6]got off the pad in November 2022. It is unlikely that there will be a months-long delay before Blue Origin tries again, but the company has not disclosed the next Not-Earlier-Than (NET) date for lift-off.
Bezos: I take Elon Musk 'at face value'
Amazon and Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, has echoed [7]Sam Altman 's sentiments opining that SpaceX supremo Elon Musk will surely not use his political influence against rivals. In an interview with [8]Reuters ahead of the failed launch attempt, Bezos said he did not expect Musk to use his close ties with President-elect Trump to undercut Blue Origin. Once operational, New Glenn will be a rival to SpaceX Falcon 9. Bezos said, "Elon has been very clear that he's doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I take him at face value."
Altman to Musk: Don't go full supervillain – that's so un-American [9]READ MORE
Blue Origin has faced several challenges even getting to this point. As well as some substantial technical hold-ups, complications with the weather in the last few days held up the launch attempt – Blue Origin would like to attempt a recovery of the first stage using a floating platform, but high seas have prevented this in recent days, despite it not being the primary goal of the test flight.
In addition to the weather, range troubles might also cause Blue Origin headaches. As Blue Origin's New Glenn remains on Launch Complex 36, a SpaceX Falcon 9 is due to be blasted from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A on January 15. The mission will carry lunar landers in the form of Japan's Hakuto-R Mission 2 and Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost M2, which is transporting ten NASA payloads to the lunar surface. ®
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[1] https://x.com/blueorigin/status/1878715911563313651
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/10/blue_origin_new_glenn/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/07/new_glenn_launch_date/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/09/blue_origin_escapade_launhc_called_off/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/rocket_lab_peter_beck_interview/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/18/artemis_i_science/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/05/altman_musk_unamerican/
[8] https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/bezos-optimistic-about-trumps-space-agenda-not-concerned-about-musk-influence-2025-01-13/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/05/altman_musk_unamerican/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z4VGvP9jyF4FcyWCI7UrPQAAAFI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This sort of thing happens. That's why we test. And this is a test launch.
But I expect Leon is rubbing his hands with glee!
I doubt it, SpaceX need New Glenn to work. Starship is a long way off being man rated due to not having any method of launch abort. With SLS likely getting canceled that leaves New Glenn as the only suitable replacement. So if BO can't get New Glenn working then that also throws a spanner in SpaceX's plans.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think New Glenn is competition for Falcon Heavy, not Starship.
In the current configuration it can lift about the same to LEO, but due to the higher performing upper stage it can do better to GTO or interplanetary.
The payload volume is also colossal compared with FH, and probably could be enlarged on special request. Starship certainly has higher LEO capability on the cards, and on orbit refuelling is considered a necessity for serious progress beyond that. Of course it also has a very different payload configuration... at the moment we've only seen the pez dispenser, and some boiler plates for HLS access - both nothing about how they'll deploy a large payload (which could of course contain it's own kick stage.
In the current configuration, based on evidence so far, it can't lift diddly squat.
Sure, we hope that it can do the things they claim, but so far nothing has been proven.
Starship however has demonstrated ability to haul a single banana to space.
Meh - I have confidence in maths and science that you clearly don't.
Whilst they haven't launched, the capability is pretty easily calculated, there might be some engineering needed between now and that capability being availble.
Not sure why New Glenn is what you'd consider necessary for manned work... Dragon and the F9 are already very capable, and I imagine it would be less work to man rate the FH than NG at this point if you really wanted some extra dV.
Of course you can also launch SS, and then do a dragon rendevous in LEO. Ship up 7 people at a time...
Dragon won't be able to survive re-entry from the moon, at the moment Orion is the only capsule suitable for a moon mission.
Orion fits on New Glenn, it doesn't fit on Falcon 9 or Heavy.
Dragon was originally designed for lunar return, though the heatshield has almost certainly been downrated since then.
You could of course come back to LEO and then return - might need a little bit of extra fuel, and probably a different SS from the current HLS variant.
Orion doesn't have to be the only game in town. I'm sure a SS designed as a lunar relay vehicle could do an awful lot of that work.
You don't want all your eggs in one basket, you can't have Dragon as the only human rated system and FH is too close to F9 to be considered for diverse launch systems.
Who knows what is happening with Starliner and Dreamchaser and which launcher they will be certified with. BTW, a couple of future LEO space station designs have NG being the human taxi but don't know what capsule.
Shuttle didn't have launch abort and Starship won't have for HLS taking off from the moon. I am guessing they are hoping that having proven reliability record will be enough for human rating along with enough redundant systems, etc
However don't know how long that will take. Until then they have Crew Dragon.
Launch Abort Mandatory
The Shuttle didn't have a launch abort, which meant the seven astronauts on Challenger had absolutely no chance - there's no way that Starship gets a NASA human rating without a launch abort system. Most likely they'll have to use Crew Dragon to ferry astronauts to orbit to join a Starship before journeying on to the Moon or Mars. Which would be workable as it would mean they could fly more fuel on the first Starship launch, and then only add passengers once it has gone through refuelling as many times as it needs to for its mission. Crew Dragon can be configured to hold seven astronauts, which is fine going up, even if NASA won't support the same number coming down.
Re: Launch Abort Mandatory
The shuttle did have launch abort options - it had ejection seats on two vehicles...
There was a period in operational flights when there were no launch abort options available (from SRB light to burnout).
A capsule ejection system might have helped in the challenger incident, but it's not entirely clear - and it would have required extensive redesign to make it work.
Re: Launch Abort Mandatory
Especially with crew on the lower deck, a capsule ejection system just wasn't feasible on STS, it would have involved basically ejecting the entire pressurized cockpit/nose section. Structurally and weight wise that was never going to happen. The ejection seats were only for the 2 crew in the pilot seats, and were only "hot" on STS-1 through 4. They were disabled by STS-5 and eventually removed. The seats only worked up to 80k feet after which the SRB plumes expanded to a size that the ejecting pilots would pass straight through the SRB exhaust. At nearly the same time dynamic pressure would also exceed face-plate limits, meaning they'd be screwed either way. There was a radio call "negative seats" to indicate this point. On return, the seats were only useable below a certain speed (iirc somewhere around mach 2.5) meaning that on re-entry the seats were also not useable for the majority of the ride until way down in the atmosphere (well beyond the point an out of control shuttle would break up).
Alexa,
scrub launch.
Re: Alexa,
Done. And the cutlery?
"Rocket fanciers who were up at 0600 UTC for the opening of the launch window saw repeated resets of the countdown clock"
That would be me. Disappointing, but not unexpected with a maiden flight. No doubt they'll get there in the fullness of time.
When the countdown clock was removed from the feed them second time towards the end of the launch window I gave up watching. Those poor hosts trying to waffle their way through all the extra unplanned airtime isn’t breakfast viewing.
Was amusing the host keep saying they will be launching today even after the second clock reset.
Impressed they managed to get through 3 hour broadcast without saying SpaceX, Falcon or Starship even once.
I elected not to set an alarm, and wasn't all that surprised when I woke up to the streams being retitled "scrubbed".
If it had been at a less unsociable hour I might have made the effort - but I can watch the stream later...
I'm shocked!
Shocked to find that Bezos Overcompensation hasn't taken to the skies yet. Maybe it just needs more money?
Corporate DEI propaganda
On the launch stream was sickening. I'm surprised they didn't all hold hands in a circle and sing kumbaya.
NSF stream mentioned reports of a stuck valve. Might to on 2nd stage which is hydrogen fuel but no further details.