Blue Origin Postpones New Glenn Rocket Launch Due to Space Weather Concerns

United States:

Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, announced Wednesday another postponement of its New Glenn rocket launch due to forecasted space weather concerns.

This delay follows a previous launch cancellation on Sunday that was attributed to unfavorable weather conditions.

The 322-foot (98-meter) New Glenn rocket's mission involves carrying NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft to Mars, designed to investigate the Red Planet's climate history as part of preparations for potential human exploration in the future.

In its announcement, Blue Origin stated that NASA had decided to delay the launch "until space weather conditions improve," citing concerns that "highly elevated solar activity" might affect the spacecraft's systems.

"New Glenn is ready to launch," Blue Origin posted on X. "We are currently assessing opportunities to establish our next launch window based on forecasted space weather and range availability."

Recent solar activity has been particularly intense, with the sun emitting charged particles that interact with Earth's magnetic field. The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a "severe" geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday.

These space weather events have created spectacular aurora displays across North America's night skies, visible as far south as Texas.

The postponed launch comes amid growing competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The two companies, backed by their billionaire founders, are engaged in an intensifying commercial space race that has recently heightened as NASA opened bidding for its planned Moon mission.

This launch represents a critical test for Blue Origin, particularly regarding booster recovery capabilities, which would mark a significant technical achievement for the company if successful.

While New Glenn's inaugural flight in January was considered successful with its payload reaching orbit and completing planned tests, the first-stage booster, designed to be reusable, failed to land on its designated platform in the Atlantic Ocean and was lost during descent.

In this second attempt, Blue Origin will again try to recover the booster stage—a feat that thus far only Musk's SpaceX has managed to accomplish consistently.