Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on Monday called off its inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket after a number of last-minute issues – hurting the space firm in its race to compete with Elon Musk’s dominant SpaceX.
The 320-foot rocket was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1 a.m. ET before the launch was aborted.
“We are standing down today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle sub-system issue that will take us beyond our launch window,” said Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin vice president of in-space systems, during a livestream of the intended launch.
A new launch date was not announced.
Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The heavy-lift rocket — tasked with eventually launching the company’s moon lander for NASA — was expected to chip away at SpaceX’s market dominance and kickstart Blue Origin’s long-delayed entrance in the satellite launch business.
Bezos has positioned the New Glenn as a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.
Cornell said the space company is reviewing opportunities for its next launch attempt, but the first step is to drain the New Glenn rocket of its fuel.
Blue Origin began filling the vehicle’s fuel tanks with liquid methane, hydrogen and oxygen late Sunday evening.
“From there, we’re going to assess…what are the things we might want to get done in our downtime?” Cornell said. “And that is what’s going to guide when the next launch opportunity will be.”
The rocket had planned to land a first-stage booster on the Jacklyn ship offshore in the Atlantic Ocean for future reuse, while its second stage continued into orbit – an ambitious test flight mission.
The New Glenn, during its test flight, was supposed to carry a prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring spacecraft – which is capable of refueling, transporting and hosting satellites. The Blue Ring can maneuver to multiple orbits and locations.
Prior to Monday, the launch date had been pushed back multiple times due to unfavorable sea conditions in the Atlantic.
Delays and technical difficulties are common for first launches.
The partially reusable New Glenn rocket has emerged as a particularly sustainable space project.
“As part of the long-term vision, we really need 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 methane-burning engines present in the New Glenn were also used in United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, which reached orbit twice last year. While methane is better for the environment than kerosene engines, it is still a powerful greenhouse gas that can worsen pollution.
Since Bezos launched Blue Origin in 2000, the space company has seen three chief executives and several launches of its ‘$2.5 billion New Shepard spacecraft carrying celeb space tourists including “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan and “Star Trek” actor William Shatner.
Tech billionaires have increasingly sought out space ventures – none more so than Tesla founder Elon Musk. Musk’s SpaceX has completed 433 launches as of Jan. 13.
A Falcon 9 rocket is set to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as soon as early Wednesday morning.
The space company is also set to kick off its seventh test flight of its gigantic Starship rocket on Wednesday. The Starship is the most massive, tallest and most powerful rocket to ever lift off.
Richard Brandon’s Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, took its first space tourists to the edge of space in 2023.
