Blue Origin scrubs 1st New Glenn rocket launch due to technical issue

a white rocket stands on a launch pad at night
Blue Origin's first New Glenn rocket stands on the pad on Jan. 13, 2025. A technical issue scuttled a planned liftoff attempt that day. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

We'll have to wait a bit longer to see Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket lift off for the first time.

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, aimed to launch its first New Glenn heavy-lift rocket from Florida's Space Coast this morning (Jan. 13), during a three-hour window that opened at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT).

Blue Origin pushed the planned launch time back multiple times before finally calling the attempt off at around 3:10 a.m. EST (0810 GMT).

"We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We’re reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt," the company announced via X.

That post did not identify the subsystem or the issue, and neither did the hosts of the company's launch webcast.

Related: Blue Origin: Everything you need to know about the private spaceflight company

This isn't the first launch delay for the 320-foot-tall (98 meters) New Glenn, which features a reusable first stage.

Blue Origin originally aimed to fly this debut mission, which it calls NG-1, on Friday (Jan. 10) but pushed the try back 72 hours due to rough seas in the patch of the Atlantic Ocean where the rocket's first stage is expected to land. (If all goes according to plan, that touchdown will occur on a ship nicknamed Jacklyn, after Bezos' mother.)

Blue Origin has a few days to address the issue; the current NG-1 launch window runs through Jan. 16. The test flight will launch a pathfinder version of Blue Ring, a new spacecraft platform the company has built.

New Glenn, which has been in development for about a decade, is Blue Origin's first orbital-class rocket. The company already flies a reusable suborbital vehicle called New Shepard, which takes people and payloads on brief trips to space.

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Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

  • Ryan F. Mercer
    And SpaceX just delayed their launch again as well. I can't be the only one who sees what is going on here. God damn the egos. It's like something from Grease. They're both revving their engines, lurching at the start line, and giving one another smug looks. Imagine if New Glenn goes first and explodes into a fireball. Musk will take the rudest, crudest, victory lap you ever saw on X. But Imagine if Starship goes first, and booster destroys the launch tower on landing. Neither one can afford the humility. Everything is on the line. Double check it. Double check it again. Wait for better weather. Wait for daises and daffodils.

    My god... just launch the damn rockets already!
    Reply