The maiden flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has not yet commenced despite its promises that it will be available this 2024, but there is still time for the company to do so, and it is targeting one before the year ends. This massive rocket from Blue Origin is known for being its take on the reusable spacecraft to deliver lower costs for customers and make space more affordable for all.
However, Blue Origin has seen delays plague its supposed test flight and mission for New Glenn, following a massive promise earlier this year where the company said that it would be launching by October.
Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Set its Sights on Year-Ender Launch
The latest news from Blue Origin claims that its New Glenn rocket's first payload, the Blue Ring Pathfinder of the company, is now ready for launch this year, and since December's dates are already counting down, it needs to beat the calendar to fulfill this claim. As per TechCrunch's report, Blue Origin claimed that its New Glenn is 'on track' for a launch before the year ends but there are still several roadblocks ahead of it.
Before the actual flight takes place, Blue Origin needs to perform an important test for the New Glenn rocket which it calls the "hot fire" test where all of its seven BE-4 engines will fire at full thrust power while sitting at its launchpad.
There are less than 22 days before December ends and this claim by Blue Origin needs to move at a faster timeline to achieve its year-ender launch, especially as it still has to secure its license and add the fairing (rocket's payload) before liftoff.
New Glenn Rocket Still Awaits Regulatory Approval
However, Blue Origin is still awaiting its regulatory approval for the key hot fire test which is a must before it launches its reusable rocket to orbit and deliver its Blue Ring Pathfinder payload. In the instance that Blue Origin is successful in this undertaking, it may open up significant business opportunities for Jeff Bezos' space company moving forward.
Blue Origin's New Glenn vs. SpaceX Starship
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is known for being an up-and-coming private space company in the world that is looking to get a piece of space in this current race, and the goal is to be one of the top names in the industry. Three years ago, Blue Origin made waves with its New Shepard rocket which launched multiple times to orbit, with its first test flight having its owner, Bezos, on board.
However, SpaceX was ahead of Blue Origin for many years already, with the Elon Musk-owned company significantly establishing its company as one of the frontier private entities, and has already been successful in its Starship tests. On the other hand, Blue Origin is only at the testing stage for New Glenn, the Starship rival which is also a reusable rocket and is yet to launch its first test flight.
Blue Origin raved about a test flight for its New Glenn reusable rocket for 2024, but the company has yet to make its move on this end, especially after the massive challenges that the company faced. The goal for Blue Origin is to launch the rocket before the year ends, but it is still awaiting regulatory approval before this happens, focusing on a hot fire test first before its actual liftoff.
