Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is poised to enter the large booster market with the debut of its New Glenn rocket next week, but it is unclear when the test flight will launch. It is unclear exactly.
After years of development (Jeff Bezos first unveiled the new rocket in 2016), Blue Origin will deploy the first New Glenn booster as early as Monday, January 6th at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is scheduled to launch from a launch pad at the Space Force base. This is based on an FAA warning to pilots announcing the opening of Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch window. The notification says the launch is scheduled for 1 a.m. ET (6 a.m. GMT).
However, Blue Origin has not announced the specific launch date and time, but the first stage high-temperature combustion test was successful at Space Launch Complex 36, a base in Cape Canaveral, on December 27th, and the new All it says is that Glenn’s first launch is approaching. The mission is ambitious, testing a modern launch vehicle and attempting to land its first stage at sea.
“Now, all you have to do is combine your encapsulated payload and launch!” writes Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp. on social media site X.
Mr. Bezos “Launching Next Stop” added.
According to the FAA, Blue Origin could launch New Glenn’s first flight between 1 a.m. ET and 4:45 a.m. ET on January 6. The launch time will be approximately four hours, and there will be backup opportunities every day until January 12th. .
Blue Origin named the first New Glenn booster “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance” (According to Limp) and has already sent a landing drone ship, named Jacklyn after Bezos’ mother, to sea for a planned landing in the Atlantic Ocean. spaceflight photographer john krauss Share images of the ship setting sail With X.
Landing Platform Vessel 1, named “Jacklyn” after @JeffBezos’ mother, left Cape Canaveral ahead of the first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. The vehicle’s booster, named “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,” lands on the recovery ship pic.twitter.com/tegtxGQEz6January 2, 2025
New Glenn is a heavy-lift vehicle designed to be reusable, similar to SpaceX’s Falcon and Starship rockets, with its first stage returning to Earth to land on an ocean platform. Blue Origin says each New Glenn booster can fly up to 25 times.
The rocket features an almost 23-foot (7-meter) payload fairing that contains more than twice the volume of the smaller, commonly used 15-foot (5-meter) fairing. The rocket is designed to carry a payload of up to 13 metric tons to geostationary orbit and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit.
“Double the volume of the smaller 5-meter class payload fairing gives customers new ways to pack payloads with more flexibility,” the company said. In summary.
For the first New Glenn flight, Blue Origin will not launch any payloads. Instead, the mission, called NG-1, is carrying the Blue Ring Pathfinder, a 45,000-pound (20,411-kilogram) payload simulator version of the company’s multirole Blue Ring spacecraft to carry customer payloads.
“The demonstrator includes a communications array, power system, and flight computer mounted on a secondary payload adapter ring. Pathfinder will validate the Blue Ring’s communications capabilities from orbit to the ground.” Blue Origin writes. Payload overview. “This mission will also test in-space telemetry, tracking and command hardware, and ground-based radiometric tracking that will be used on future production spacecraft Blue Ring.”
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket debut will take about six hours from launch to landing to mission completion, the company said. If successful, the mission could count as one of New Glenn’s certification flights for the U.S. Space Force and National Security Space Launch Program by Blue Origin.
Blue Origin currently works with NASA (to launch NASA’s Mars rover ESCAPADE), Amazon (to fly its Kuiper Internet satellite), AST SpaceMobile (for space-to-phone communications services), and other private and government companies. has a contract with New Glenn to launch the New Glenn. customer.
