Blue Origin scrub first New Glenn launch due to a vehicle subsystem issue

On January 13, 2024, at midnight Blue Origin attempted to launch the first New Glenn rocket to orbit and decided to scrub after a subsystem issue emerged during the reverse countdown.

The company conducted this flight from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission had a three-hour launch window opening at 1:00 a.m. EST.

The launch timer continues to be delayed due to some unknown reason. The broadcast hosts also shared that the launch teams are performing extra flight tasks and checking systems, which requires extra time.

However, the teams have not shared anything specific on this matter. Instead, Blue Origin kept on increasing the clock. Therefore the launch window stretched for the following liftoff timelines:

• First T-0 extension at 1:52 a.m. EST
• Second T-0 extension at 2:07 a.m. EST
• Third T-0 extension at 2:27 a.m. EST
• Fourth T-0 extension at 2:48 a.m. EST
• Fifth T-0 extension at 3:15 a.m. EST

That’s more than 2 hours of delay in the targeted launch time and the company finally went for a scrub.

“We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window,” announced Blue Origin after scrubbing the flight.

Blue Origin New Glenn on the launch pad (Credit – Blue Origin)

The teams will now detank both stages and assess the vehicle for a deeper exploration of the issues. Now, we’ll have to wait for the next launch opportunity, which could be after 48 hours of the first attempt.

New Glenn is a two-stage large space vehicle, designed for max reusability. It features a first stage with seven reusable BE-4 engines with more than 3.8 million pounds of thrust.

The first stage could return to Earth after sending the second stage to space and land on a droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.