Blue Origin, the aerospace venture founded by Amazon’s Jef Bezos is set to make another attempt at launching its massive New Glenn rocket. The rocket’s inaugural was scheduled for early Monday but was postponed because of ice buildup in critical hydraulic system components. The company plans to launch it on Thursday, but adverse weather conditions and thick clouds may lead to further delays. The launch window for its highly anticipated New Glenn rocket will begin at 1 AM EST(0600 GMT) as per a post on X. The three-hour window is a major achievement in rocket development.
Details on New Glenn rocket
The 320-foot (98 meter) New Glenn rocket faced an unexpected glitch when ice formed in the purge line supporting its hydraulic systems, leaving insufficient time to solve the issue. Moreover, rough seas have complicated plans to recover the rocket’s first-stage booster by using a floating platform in the Atlantic. These issues have brought the latest obstacle in Blue Origin’s mission to showcase the New Glenn’s capabilities, a rocket named after John Glen- the first American to orbit Earth.
The creation of the heavy-lift orbital rocket has been a long a challenging journey. The project has also faced several delays as the Blue Origin CEO’s changed thrice during the tenure. On the contrary, its competitor Elon Musk’s SpaceX has gone far ahead by launching its reusable Falcon 9.
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin 25 years ago, was present during the countdown from Mission Control near NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. Despite the postponement of the launch, Bezos showed unwavering determination, stating, ‘’We’re going to pick ourselves up and keep going.’’ The New Glenn rocket is five times taller in height in comparison to the New Shephard rocket which is currently being utilized for undertaking suborbital flights.
(With inputs from Reuters)