Blue Origin's inaugural New Glenn mission is finally ready to launch, with the (theoretically) reusable rocket set to embark on its maiden flight from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station within hours. Though the launch had been delayed by several days due to unfavourable weather, it seems conditions are right to find out what New Glenn can do at last.
New Glenn is Blue Origin's first orbital rocket, and has been in development for over a decade. The company's previous spacecrafts such as the New Shepard have stuck closer the Kármán line, a boundary about 62 miles (100km) above Earth which some have adopted as the beginning of space. In contrast, New Glenn will aim to blast past that barrier, reaching a maximum altitude of approximately 12,000 miles (19,300km).
As such, New Glenn is significantly larger than New Shepard, standing over 320 feet (98m) tall compared to the latter's 63 feet (19m).
New Glenn won't be carrying any human passengers on its maiden voyage. Instead, the New Glenn-1 mission's goal is to see if it can actually reach orbit safely, as well as test out technology for Blue Origin's proposed Blue Ring spacecraft platform. It also aims to begin the certification process to enable New Glenn to carry military payloads to space. This would enable Blue Origin to enter military contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, providing some more competition for Space X.
Of course, Blue Origin is hoping to land New Glenn's booster intact as well, with a landing pad currently at the ready in the Atlantic Ocean.
The mission's three-hour launch window will open Monday at 1 a.m. EST / Sunday 10 p.m. PST, with the webcast live now. Watch Blue Origin's New Glenn launch on Blue Orgin's YouTube channel here:
