The Guardian reports Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch is delayed until at least 12 January due to conditions in the Atlantic, where the booster is slated to land. A statement from the company read: “We’re shifting our NG-1 launch date to no earlier than January 12 due to a high sea state in the Atlantic, where we hope to land our booster.”
Full Story (The Guardian)
Tag: First Orbital Launch
Shotwell: SpaceX Aiming for First Orbital Launch of Starship In July
Space News reported that SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell “says the company is ‘shooting for July’ for the first orbital launch of the company’s Starship vehicle despite lacking the regulatory approvals needed for such a launch.” At the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference on Friday, Shotwell said that the company was “hoping” to conduct the launch in July, “but we all know this is difficult. We are really on the cusp of flying that system, or at least attempting the first orbital flight of that system, in the very near term.” SpaceX “last flew a Starship prototype May 5, with the SN15 vehicle flying to an altitude of 10 kilometers before making a successful landing.” Although SpaceX “originally appeared to be planning a second suborbital flight of that vehicle, it instead moved the vehicle from the launch pad. Another Starship prototype, SN16, has remained at the production site.”
Full Story (Space News)
Second Launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Planned for Late Spring
Space News reports, “Blue Origin expects to attempt its second New Glenn launch in late spring after correcting problems that prevented the booster from landing on the first launch last month. Speaking at the 27th Annual Commercial Space Conference here Feb. 12, Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, suggested a propulsion issue of some kind caused the loss of the New Glenn booster during its landing attempt on the Jan. 16 NG-1 launch. ‘We had most of the right conditions in the engine but we weren’t able to get everything right to the engine from the tanks,’ he said. ‘We think we understand what the issues are.’
Full Story (Space News)
Blue Origin Scrubs Debut Launch of its New Glenn Rocket
The New York Times reports, “There’s a new rocket that’s never flown waiting on a launchpad in Florida. It’s called New Glenn and it’s going to have to stay there a little longer. On Monday, propellants were loaded into the vehicle and a countdown clock started. Then the clock was reset again. And again. And again.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription publication)
More Info (Spaceflight Now)