Investing.com -- Blue Origin postponed the debut launch of its New Glenn rocket on Monday due to "a few anomalies" encountered during the final stages of the countdown.
The mission, which aims to establish the company as a competitor in the satellite launch market against SpaceX, is now delayed by at least one day, with the timeline likely to extend further as engineers address the issue.
Towering 30 stories high, the partially reusable New Glenn rocket had been prepared for liftoff at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Initially scheduled for 1:00 am ET (0600 GMT), the rocket was loaded with methane and liquid oxygen propellants. However, the launch time was repeatedly pushed back late in the countdown, nearing the end of the launch window at 4:00 am.
A spokeswoman on Blue Origin’s live feed explained that mission teams were investigating "a few anomalies."
"We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We’re reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt,” Blue Origin said in a statement.
While the minimum delay is 24 hours, the launch is expected to be postponed longer as the team works to resolve the issues identified during this critical mission phase.
This inaugural flight marks the culmination of over a decade of development and billions of dollars in investment. If successful, the mission will feature an ambitious attempt to recover the rocket’s first-stage booster by landing it on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 10 minutes after liftoff, while the second stage continues its journey to orbit.
"The thing we're most nervous about is the booster landing," said Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, in a pre-launch interview with Reuters. "Clearly on a first flight you could have an anomaly at any mission phase, so anything could happen."
Achieving the rocket’s intended orbit on its first attempt would represent a significant milestone in the space industry.
"If we could do that, that would be a great success," Bezos added. "Landing the booster would be icing on the cake."
The New Glenn rocket boasts more than double the power of SpaceX's Falcon 9 and already has a substantial backlog of customer launch contracts valued in the billions of dollars.