First launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket slated for January 10

Bezos booster finally ready for action

Blue Origin has named the date for the first launch of its New Glenn rocket – January 10.

It wasn't quite the end of 2024 as originally envisioned, but there won't be many rocket fanciers grumbling about a slip of a few more days if it means the launch has a greater chance of success.

The inaugural launch is scheduled for no earlier than January 10 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The three-hour launch window opens at 0600 UTC, and the mission, named NG-1, will be the first National Security Space Launch certification flight.

The primary goal of the mission is to reach orbit. The rocket's payload is the Blue Ring Pathfinder, intended to demonstrate some of the Blue Ring spacecraft systems. The original plan was to have launched NASA's ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) expedition to Mars. However, with the fueling of the ESCAPADE spacecraft looming in September, the US space agency opted to postpone the trip – a decision that, considering the delays with New Glenn, seems wise in retrospect.

Blue Origin will also attempt to retrieve the first stage via its sea-based landing platform, Jacklyn. It said: "We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious – but we're going for it."

In recognition of the challenge of landing a booster successfully on the first attempt, the first stage has been named "So You're Telling Me There's a Chance." Blue Origin boss Dave Limp explained the moniker in a September post on X: "Why? No one has landed a reusable booster on the first try. Yet, we're going for it, and humbly submit having good confidence in landing it. But like I said a couple of weeks ago, if we don't, we'll learn and keep trying until we do."

Reusing the first stage is a key part of the company's business model – the booster is designed for 25 missions, assuming it can be recovered without anything exploding. The first stage of the 98-meter (320-foot) tall rocket is powered by seven BE-4 engines. According to Blue Origin, the rocket is capable of transporting 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) and more than 13 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

New Glenn will not be the first rocket launched with BE-4 engines. United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur uses a pair of the units in its first stage and made its first flight a year ago. However, Blue Origin's New Glenn will be the first BE-4 powered vehicle aiming for recovery from the start. ®