Blue Origin Is Gearing Up For A High-stakes Launch With Its New Glenn Rocket

Following a scrubbed motorboat effort and weather-related delays, Blue Origin will erstwhile again effort to nonstop its New Glenn rocket into abstraction for nan first time. During nan attempt, nan Jeff Bezos-owned abstraction institution intends to scope orbit, helping to further its goals of shuttling Project Kuiper satellites, equipment, and yet humans into space.

Here’s what you petition to cognize astir erstwhile and really to watch New Glenn’s long-awaited inaugural launch.

What is New Glenn?

New Glenn is nan 320-foot-tall rocket that Blue Origin initially announced successful 2016. Though Blue Origin planned to motorboat New Glenn by 2020, nan task was beset by delays owed to issues pinch motor improvement and different method setbacks.

The rocket has a reusable first style powered by nan company’s BE-4 engines, which tally connected liquified earthy authorities and liquid oxygen. Shortly aft launch, nan first style is expected to detach and autonomously onshore upright connected a sea-based platform, wherever Blue Origin tin past retrieve it and reuse it for early missions.

Following separation, New Glenn’s precocious style should occurrence up its BE-3U engines — a small powerful centrifugal that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — arsenic it attempts to propel itself into abstraction pinch its payload. The precocious style is tin of delivering 45 metric tons of cargo into debased Earth orbit.

For this uncrewed launch, New Glenn will location nan Blue Ring Pathfinder, a payload consisting of a communications array, a powerfulness system, and a statement computer. This will fto Blue Origin proceedings its Blue Ring spacecraft, which will yet support missions pinch refueling, hosting, accusation relay, and unreality computing capabilities.

Earlier this week, Blue Origin scrubbed New Glenn’s motorboat owed to a “vehicle subsystem issue.” A successful first motorboat could make Blue Origin a superior rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Along pinch competing for authorities contracts, immoderate commercialized abstraction companies are too moving to build retired nett outer constellations, pinch SpaceX regularly sending Starlink satellites into abstraction and Blue Origin connected pat to support Amazon’s Project Kuiper initiative.

When will Blue Origin motorboat New Glenn?

Blue Origin’s adjacent motorboat effort will return spot astatine Launch Complex 36 successful Cape Canaveral, Florida, connected Thursday, January 16th. The three-hour motorboat exemplary opens astatine 1AM ET (10PM PT).

How to watch New Glenn’s launch

You tin watch a livestream of New Glenn’s motorboat from Blue Origin’s website, its X account, and its YouTube channel. We’ll embed a livestream coming erstwhile it becomes available.