HomeScienceBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch: how and when to watch

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch: how and when to watch

Blue Origin is getting ready for its greatest launch but, however on Monday morning the try was scrubbed for technical causes after a number of delays had been made all through the three-hour launch window. The window initially opened at 1AM ET.

It’s unclear when the Jeff Bezos-owned business area firm will subsequent try to ship its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket into area for the primary time.

The launch of New Glenn comes after virtually a decade of growth, and its consequence might threaten the dominance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX — not solely within the business area business but additionally within the satellite tv for pc web enterprise. Right here’s an summary of what it’s essential to know in regards to the New Glenn flight and easy methods to watch it stay.

What’s New Glenn, and why is it necessary?

First introduced in 2016, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is supposed to shuttle cargo, satellites, and, sooner or later, folks into area. The New Glenn is called after John Glenn, the primary NASA astronaut to enter the Earth’s orbit.

Its first stage is powered by seven of Blue Origin’s highly effective BE-4 engines, which run on liquified pure fuel and liquid oxygen. Blue Origin goals to reuse New Glenn’s first stage for at the least 25 missions, because it’s designed to the touch down vertically on a sea-based platform following launch, permitting the corporate to retrieve it.

The rocket’s higher stage is disposable and carries Blue Origin’s payload. It’s able to sending 13 metric tons to geostationary switch orbit and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit. Blue Origin says New Glenn can be “engineered with the protection and redundance required to fly people.” Although Blue Origin initially aimed to launch New Glenn in 2020, its inaugural flight stored getting pushed again attributable to points with the event of its BE-4 engine and different technical mishaps.

As identified by NPR, New Glenn has an identical carrying capability to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, however it stands out with a bigger, 23-foot-wide cargo bay. If New Glenn’s launch is profitable, it might warmth up its rivalry with SpaceX as each firms vie to safe profitable authorities contracts.

New Glenn can be key to Amazon’s Mission Kuiper satellite tv for pc web initiative. Although the corporate’s first set of satellites is scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket this yr, Blue Origin will ultimately launch Mission Kuiper satellites aboard New Glenn, rivaling SpaceX’s Starlink. Amazon plans to ship 3,236 Mission Kuiper satellites into area, which remains to be far fewer than Starlink’s rising constellation of greater than 6,000 satellites.

What to anticipate from New Glenn’s first launch

New Glenn is about to take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a three-hour launch window opening on January thirteenth at 1AM ET (10PM PT). The launch was initially scheduled for January tenth, however it was pushed again attributable to “a excessive sea state within the Atlantic,” first to January twelfth after which to January thirteenth because the “nonetheless unfavorable” circumstances continued.

A launch into orbit could be successful, all else is a bonus.
Picture: Blue Origin

Throughout this uncrewed launch, New Glenn could have the Blue Ring Pathfinder on board, a payload consisting of a communications array, an influence system, and a flight laptop. It would take a look at the corporate’s Blue Ring spacecraft, which can assist assist missions with refueling, internet hosting, information relay, and cloud computing capabilities. The aim is for New Glenn to achieve orbit, whereas “something past that,” like touchdown its reusable booster, is a “bonus,” in response to Blue Origin CEO David Limp.

The Blue Ring Pathfinder shall be aboard the New Glenn throughout its first launch.
Picture: Blue Origin

“That is our first flight and we’ve ready rigorously for it,” Jarrett Jones, the senior vp of New Glenn, stated in a press release. “However no quantity of floor testing or mission simulations are a substitute for flying this rocket. It’s time to fly. It doesn’t matter what occurs, we’ll study, refine, and apply that data to our subsequent launch.”

Learn how to watch New Glenn’s launch stay

Blue Origin will livestream the launch from its web site, its X account, and its YouTube channel. The YouTube stream is embedded on the prime of this text.

Replace January thirteenth: Famous that the launch has been scrubbed.

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