Live stream of first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket-Launch scrubbed!
UPDATE: The company has scrubbed the launch for tonight.
Scheduled for launch at 1 am (Eastern) on January 13, 2025 (with a three hour window), I have embedded the live stream below. On the west coast the launch will occur at 10 pm (Pacific), January 12, 2025. According to Blue Origin, the live stream will go live one hour prior to launch. Based on the company’s past broadcasts, we will have to suffer through a lot of “Gosh! Gee whiz!” Isn’t this great?!” stuff that really ain’t necessary. Maybe Blue Origin will surprise me. If not, come back five minutes before launch to spare yourself this blather.
You see, there is no need for Blue Origin to blather like that. The rocket is spectacular, and it speaks for itself.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
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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.
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UPDATE: The company has scrubbed the launch for tonight.
Scheduled for launch at 1 am (Eastern) on January 13, 2025 (with a three hour window), I have embedded the live stream below. On the west coast the launch will occur at 10 pm (Pacific), January 12, 2025. According to Blue Origin, the live stream will go live one hour prior to launch. Based on the company’s past broadcasts, we will have to suffer through a lot of “Gosh! Gee whiz!” Isn’t this great?!” stuff that really ain’t necessary. Maybe Blue Origin will surprise me. If not, come back five minutes before launch to spare yourself this blather.
You see, there is no need for Blue Origin to blather like that. The rocket is spectacular, and it speaks for itself.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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.
“spare yourself this blather”
I so hope they actually have something interesting to talk about. Rocket launches should be more blockbuster event rather than navel gazing. Sadly, Blue could learn a bit from the NFL.
My prediction is that when they press the “go” buttons and light the candle, they’ll have a mostly successful mission, most likely reaching orbit, but not landing the booster on the ship. I hope they fail that early enough that they abort the attempt, rather than thinking they’ve got it and taking the ship out with the booster.
But I don’t think it will happen tonight, I expect they’ll run out their launch window before they resolve the inevitable glitches with fueling, sensors, weather, making sure the range is clear…
” Based on the company’s past broadcasts, we will have to suffer through a lot of “Gosh! Gee whiz!” Isn’t this great?!” stuff that really ain’t necessary.”
First 10 minutes into livestream…….boy you called it right. How can two women sound so vapid given their highly placed positions in the organization.
Robert wrote: “According to Blue Origin, the live stream will go live one hour prior to launch.”
The problem with starting an hour in advance is that they have to fill an hour with something. Some of it can be the payload, but in this case they could spend most of it talking about the rocket. The co-host is an engineer who could do just that. I hope that is what she does. It looks like it, so far into the broadcast, but it seems to be with more “gee whiz” emotion than necessary.
Doubting Thomas: You would also think these announcers would watch some SpaceX Starship/Superheavy launches, which in many ways is comparable to this launch. If they did they learned nothing from the experience.
Overall they appear very amateurish. I am sorry to say so, but what their audience wants is detailed information presented calmly. Right now they aren’t doing that. For example, why the launch delay? It isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but they haven’t told us.
I am disappointed that there are no men engineers at Blue Origin. Or if there are, they seem to be completely nonphotogenic and were banned from the launch broadcast.
I am a bit curious why they insist upon landing on their boat at sea rather than perform a return to launch site landing. Do they not have a landing pad at or near the Canaveral Space Force Station?
There is surprisingly little information as to the reasons for the delays in launch, the resetting of the countdown. We are curious, but they are quiet. I hope that at some point they let us hear the mission control status updates as they proceed in the countdown to launch. This is something else that SpaceX does, with their announcers keeping quiet when launch control speaks.
They have told us surprisingly little about the rocket or the launch. Not even the status of propellant loading or anything about how ready the rocket may be.
It seems to me that as the broadcast goes on the announcers are beginning to do a better job. First, they aren’t talking incessantly. Instead, they are allowing long periods go by where nothing is said at all. Second, when they have spoken up recently, it has been to convey actual information about the rocket. And at no point in these recent verbal sessions did anyone use the word “excited!” even once. Thank the Lord.
It would be nice however if they explained the reasons for the countdown delays. It also seems Blue Origin has a different way of rescheduling than other launch operations, as it seems they can add time on to the countdown very easily.
T – 11 minutes.
Edward makes a good point. I am beginning to understand the value of SpaceX 45 minute Live policy. Less time to need to fill up with blather.
To Robert’s point about watching a few SpaceX live streams, I think Blue Origin is loathe to even acknowledge “Brand X”
I think that Blue Origin has a strategy to push hard the payload fairing diameter of 7 meters coupled with the mass to orbit. If SpaceX only had F9 and FH then Blue Origin could make inroads into SpaceX business but Starship seems to be coming down the road with yet another order of magnitude leap in capabilities.
I wish the VP lady would lose the phrase “Ready to Rock & Roll” since the countdown rolled from T-10 minutes to T-29 minutes and then rolled back to T-34 minutes. Going backwards does not meet my definition of rocking and rolling.
So I think since I started watching, the countdown has suddenly popped back up to around T-30 minutes four times now. Which is an odd way of doing it, I’m used to seeing something like “T-10:00 and holding” as opposed to a reset. And of course, the announcers haven’t told us anything, they just blather on about how great this will all be or waste our time giving us bios of various team members.
I repeat, the announcers are definitely doing a better job as we go. They now tell us that the countdown delays is because of some “anomalies” they have detected. It would be nice if they could be more specific.
I take it back. These announcers haven’t the faintest idea how to do their job. It is painful to listen.
They also have not yet run out of videos to play when the clock is set back. They seem to have anticipated launch delays and are prepared to keep their presentation lively with new information.
Meanwhile, it is beginning to be a long night, and I am glad I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. Here’s to hoping there are no more countdown resets and the candle gets lit.
”It would be nice however if they explained the reasons for the countdown delays.”
I just popped in here to find that out. I started the webcast about five minutes before launch to find the clock at T-33 minutes, came back a half hour later to find it at T-38 minutes, and came back an hour and a half after that to find it at T-37 minutes.
Are they really rolling the clock back without explanation? I’m interested, but I’m not watching-two-hours-of-“this-is-history-in-the-making” interested.
PS: Just got another “You’re posting too fast.” error. FYI.
And now I’m being told I have to sign in to YouTube to prove I’m not a bot. I don’t have a YouTube account, so I guess I won’t be watching the launch anyway.
Goodnight everyone.
Oh boy. BO operating as usual “any day now…”
And they are officially standing down for the night. I wish I’d been wrong on my initial prediction, but it was the way to bet.
One quickly tires of the chirpy self-congratulatory cheerleading that tends to dominate Blue Origin webcasts. For that reason, I decided not to watch the official Blue Origin feed after the first ten minutes or so and to switch to Tim Dodd’s (The Everyday Astronaut) feed instead. Even though Ariane Cornell was less insufferable than she tends to be on New Shepard launch webcasts, she still wears on one as time goes on. Tim cut the Blue Origin feed back in a few times but, mercifully, let most of it go and answered questions submitted by viewers on the chat channel accompanying the webcast to fill most of the time until the scrub was finally called. Whenever the launch is rescheduled for, I will simply watch Tim Dodd’s feed from the get-go.
A lot of people on social media are thrashing the Livestream quality and content, and not without cause.
Yes, the rocket is what ultimately matters. But it’s a little surprising given the sudden emphasis that both Bezos and Dave Limp have laid on better outreach.
Glad I slept through it.
I’ll be sure to schedule a nap for the next attempt.
Now Starship, that’s exciting.
Dick Eagleson, good recommendation. I switched to Lab Padre for SpaceX launches because the SpaceX feeds were being hijacked by folks selling bitcoin.
Dick Eagleson, thanks for the reccomendaton. I use LabPadre for the SpaceX launches. The SpaceX feeds have the annoying habit of being hijacked by folks selling bitcoin
Just an amateur who plays an Orbital Mechanic on the internet;
Why was this launch scheduled at night?
Is Blue Origin just a vanity project for Bezos? Typically yachts have served as wealth monuments in the past.
I just don’t see the 24/7/365 intensity shown by Musk for his SpaceX endeavors.
mkent;
I also don’t have a YouTube account, try clicking on a separate feed in the menu and when it starts, click the arrow back button and usually the “sign in screen” disappears allowing normal function.
I’m also recently having trouble seeing the comments on BtB. For instance, the bottom of the article will say 10 comments but only 2 will show up when I click on it. (usually after I have made a comment on the same article)
I must delete, and use a “different search engine” to bring up the comments on BtB, witch temporarily functions normal allowing me to see everything published. A new version of shadow banning?
I put my Sim card into a new unlocked iPhone four years ago, it allows normal phone use with Internet access. With no personal info, it won’t allow me to download apps or use email. (I have other devices for that) tracking me or sending me advertisements or commercials become difficult without data on me. It took two years before the phone realized I didn’t live in California, finally giving me the correct time. One big bonus is that my phone has never ran out of battery life, I must run YouTube videos all day first… I have yet to have the phone shut off on me. No apps means nothing running in the background collecting data. (or making bitcoins off my battery)
Had a long day Sunday so I resigned myself to capture the highlights of the New Glenn launch on this morning‘s feed, after coffee. Thank you all for the entertaining play by play of nothing that I missed.
Max-
yes– anecdotally have been experiencing delayed Comments as well. (and the occasional You are Commenting Too Fast Notice…)
A 1st world-problem to be sure, but occasionally.
I’m having the comment problem the last few days too, fixed by going to comments and reloading.
I made a joke on NSF that they should rename the rocket New Groundhog Day. But apparently it wasn’t funny!
Patrick Underwood: Could you explain more precisely what you mean by “fixed by going to comments and reloading?” As far as I know, there is no place on BtB set aside for the comments.
But if you have found a technique for overcoming this issue I think everyone would like a more detailed description.
Eric Berger today said that sources told h.im of two concerns during the countdown that may have contributed to the scrub. One, an iced vent line that impeded venting of boil off in the tanks. Berger reports that “several attempts” were made to deice the vent line. The second issue was with first stage APUs needed to power the stage after engine shutdown to, among other things, extend the first stage landing gear.
Weather is deteriorating in the Atlantic. Fool me once Blue Origin. I’ll catch the second attempt on the reruns.
Mr. Zimmerman, I just meant clicking on the story headline from the homepage. Once there, just reload the story page and the comments update correctly.
Did something change a few days ago? Used to update the comments automatically. Not complaining, stuff happens.
Patrick Underwood: Thank you. This is good information. It suggests the problem is within the browser, and to solve it all one needs to do is to load the specific page in its own tab and refresh.
It will also give my web guy some guidance on fixing it.
As many have said, in many ways, the hosting and commentary were very poor especially in comparison with most SpaceX big launches. But there were other things that as a broadcaster bothered me (before I quit listening.)
For example, they did a “woman in-charge” interview but called it a “factory tour” several times. There was no factory tour, just a typical media lightweight “how do you feel” interview while walking through the factory. Why call it a factory tour when it was no such thing?
Another, of many, irritants was when they announced a graphic comparing New Glenn to other rockets in use and in history. The graphic and the hosts ignored the only rocket to which most of the world cared about having a comparison: Falcon 9. These folk went out of their way to make it appear that SpaceX doesn’t exist – truly silly to the point of absurdity.
I get not saying much about a competitor but in the product/rocket part it seems obligatory to give the direct comparison to the Falcon 9.
I’ll not bother watching with sound until the the last minute before launch in the future.
Robert Pratt: What was really stupid about ignoring Falcon 9 in that comparison section is that New Glenn would compare very very favorably against it. It has a larger capacity, and much bigger fairing, can launch bigger and heavier payloads, and once it begins flying regularly the reuse of the first stage will certainly lower its price.
If you want to sell your rocket doesn’t it make sense to note these positive factors? I think these dweebs did not do that because they literally knew nothing. Their ignorance of the larger rocket industry screamed at me throughout the broadcast.
On the comments. It seems to be a caching issue, if I just click in, I’ll see outdated comments, but a force refresh, and it updates with current.
I also went to Everyday Astronaut’s stream towards the end of the launch window. And the commenters there were being quite brutal towards the, and I quote “DEI [deleted]show that is Blue Origin’s stream” at the time.
David Eastman: You know the rules. Adding one or two asterisks to an obscenity does not work for me. As far as I am concerned, you are cursing and only making believe that you are not.
I have deleted it, and am issuing you a warning. Don’t do it again.
Mr. Zimmerman, the problem happens on my iPad running Safari but doesn’t happen on my PC running Chrome. Maybe another clue.
I think they are trying again tonight. Blue Origin has not posted anything on X but several Space YouTubers are scheduling live streams.
Blue Origin seems to be saying that they will try again tonight:
https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-glenn-ng-1-mission
Update:
Blue Origin has announced at the same link that they have a two day delay to Thursday morning (or late Wednesday night, depending where you are)
Meanwhile, Scott Manley has a comparison of New Glenn with Falcon Heavy, perhaps the one that Blue should have had. Yes, he points out at least some of New Glenn’s advantages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKt0hn4R_uU