What Blue Origin is Up To

[Yazata]

Blue just conducted a New Glenn booster static fire this evening (Friday Dec 27, 2024). New Glenn was fully stacked for this engine ignition test, unlike SpaceX which static fire boosters (both Starship and Falcon-9) without the second stage on top.

New Glenn's first flight is tentatively scheduled for January 6, 2025.

It appears that Blue Origin was waiting on the FAA, since things are suddenly moving at a speed uncharacteristic for Blue.

(Edit:) There's rumors tonight on the internet (which we all know is always right) that tonight's New Glenn static fire wasn't nominal. If that's true, the NG-1 launch might get pushed back.

(Edit-2:) Blue says that today's static fire was successful and that all the booster engines performed nominally.

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-glen...le-hotfire

https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1872824935732916265

[Yazata]

Blue's landing barge Jaclyn (named for Jeff Bezos' mom) has departed Port Canaveral in anticipation of the first flight of New Glenn on Monday January 6.

(Helicopter photo by Max Evans for Nasaspaceflight.com)

[Image: GgTwDoJXQAA9tm1?format=jpg&name=small]

[Yazata]

The first flight of Blue's New Glenn appears to have been pushed back to NET (no earlier than) Wednesday January 8, with a launch window of 1 a.m. to 4:45 AM EST (10 PM Tuesday Jan 7 PST) from SLC 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

[Yazata]

And New Glenn has been pushed back again, this time to 1 AM EST Friday January 10 (10 PM Jan 9 PST).

Friday's going to be a double header if these dates and times hold, since Starship's flight 7 is scheduled to go at 4 PM CST (5 PM EST, 2 PM PST) on Friday January 10!

Big day if it holds!

[Yazata]

New Glenn pushed back to January 12 because of rough weather in the booster recovery area.

Dave Limp says

"Pointy end up! New Glenn is vertical at LC-36 in Florida. Just need the sea to settle down a bit. Some context on our 1/12 target launch date—our objective is to reach orbit. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Landing our booster offshore is ambitious—but we’re going for it. No matter what, we will learn a lot."

https://x.com/davill/status/1877541902662218196

nsNS

[Yazata]

New Glenn has been pushed back 24 hours from tonight to 10 PM PST Sunday night/1 AM EST Monday morning, because of downrange weather.

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/1878196372274286673

[Yazata]

Watch Nooglin's first flight here

https://www.blueorigin.com/missions/ng-1...ium=social

Or on our old friend, SpaceflightNow

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bg7tp7K7g_g

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Written on the bottom of New Glenn (some of the space-nuts call it nooglin).

(Photos by Gavin R.)

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[Yazata]

New Glenn has begun propellant loading.

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Eric Berger is at Cape Canaveral as a guest of Blue Origin and just interviewed Jeff Bezos.

"I spoke with Jeff Bezos on the eve of his company's first orbital launch attempt. He was both affable ... and anxious."

https://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/20...selves-up/

"Understandably, the main building of Blue Origin's sprawling campus in Florida buzzed with activity on Sunday evening as the final hours ticked down toward the company's historic, first orbital launch. The time had come to celebrate a moment long awaited...

"It's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, said by way of greeting...

I asked what his expectations were for the launch of New Glenn, which has a three-hour window that opens at 1 am ET (06:00 UTC) on Monday, January 13. The launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base lay several miles away from the factory where we conducted the interview.

"We would certainly like to achieve orbit, and get the Blue Ring Pathfinder into orbit," Bezos said. "Landing the booster would be gravy on top of that. It's kind of insane to try and land the booster. A more sane approach would probably be to try to land it into ocean. But we're gonna go for it."...

"I'm worried about everything," he admitted. However, the rocket has been programmed to divert from the ship if the avionics on board the vehicle sense that anything is off-nominal.

And there is, of course, a pretty good chance of that happening.

"We've done a lot of work, we've done a lot of testing, but there are some things that can only be tested in flight," Bezos said. "And you can't be overconfident in these things. You have to be real...

New Glenn is coming online at a pivotal moment in spaceflight. The incoming Trump administration is looking to shakeup NASA, and wants to work with companies that can deliver results. If New Glenn works, and can fly regularly, it could play an important role in a lunar exploration program...

Bezos understands that the best thing that Blue Origin can do now for itself, and the country's space exploration plans, is to deliver the goods. With luck, that will start early on Monday morning."

[Yazata]

Countdown proceding - new t-0 time 1:30 AM EST/10:30 PM PST

[Yazata]

After a whole succession of holds, they finally scrubbed