The Blue Origin company announced a second attempt to launch the New Glenn launch vehicle on January 14 at 01:00 Eastern European Time. However, just a few hours later, the company changed its plans, postponing the launch to Thursday, January 16. This is reported by Arstechnica, writes UNN.
Details
Blue Origin did not explain why the rocket launch was postponed for a few days. However, it is likely due to both technical work after the initial launch preparation and weather conditions.
It is reported that in its brief message on Monday afternoon, Blue Origin confirmed that the first launch attempt, earlier on Monday morning, was canceled due to ice buildup on the vent line.
"The morning cleanup today was related to ice formation in the purge line on the auxiliary power unit that powers some of our hydraulic systems," the company said.
Despite the correction of the technical malfunction, the launch scheduled for Tuesday was also postponed due to weather conditions. Weather forecasts for the Cape Canaveral spaceport indicated a 70% probability of unfavorable conditions - scattered clouds, dense cloudiness, and strong winds at launch.
It is currently unknown whether due to one or both reasons, the company abandoned the launch attempt after 8:00 PM Eastern Time on Monday for a later time that same night. This resulted in a 48-hour delay, as the Falcon 9 rocket with two private lunar landers, one built by Firefly and the other by ispace, is scheduled to launch in a similar early morning window on Wednesday.
The launch of New Glenn is now planned for Thursday in the time window from 01:00 to 04:00 Eastern Time. The company will provide a live broadcast of the launch on its official website.
This will be the debut flight of the New Glenn rocket, which is a key project for Blue Origin in the fight for a share of the space transportation market.
Reminder
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company postponed the debut orbital launch of its new 98-meter New Glenn rocket due to technical malfunctions. The launch was planned from Cape Canaveral, but after several delays, the mission was canceled.