Blue Origin delays first New Glenn launch two weeks to October 13, 2024
The first launch of Blue Origin’s new New Glenn orbital rocket, carrying two Rocket Lab Mars orbiters built for NASA, has now been delayed two weeks to October 13, 2024.
The decision was made public by a very short and vague press release by NASA that stated no reasons for the delay and did not say clearly who made the decision. The release also did not indicate the launch window for this mission. The mission is going to Mars, which means it must launch within a certain clearly degined period this fall, when orbital mechanics will allow the orbiters to reach Mars as planned, or the mission will get delayed two years.
Blue Origin had previously targeted September 29, 2024 for the launch, but I have not been able to locate any source that states when that launch window ends. The delay of two weeks definitely shortens that window, but I don’t know how much.
Can Blue Origin meet this window? That remains unknown, but we shall soon find out.
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The first launch of Blue Origin’s new New Glenn orbital rocket, carrying two Rocket Lab Mars orbiters built for NASA, has now been delayed two weeks to October 13, 2024.
The decision was made public by a very short and vague press release by NASA that stated no reasons for the delay and did not say clearly who made the decision. The release also did not indicate the launch window for this mission. The mission is going to Mars, which means it must launch within a certain clearly degined period this fall, when orbital mechanics will allow the orbiters to reach Mars as planned, or the mission will get delayed two years.
Blue Origin had previously targeted September 29, 2024 for the launch, but I have not been able to locate any source that states when that launch window ends. The delay of two weeks definitely shortens that window, but I don’t know how much.
Can Blue Origin meet this window? That remains unknown, but we shall soon find out.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Two small payloads on such a large rocket, I wonder what flexibility they have in launch window given the size of the launch vehicle.
Could they, to keep NASA happy, decide to use all the fuel for extra speed and 1st flight be expendable?
I’m not knowledgeable enough to to the math!