The new Glenn from Blue Origin The heavy-lift launch vehicle is now ready for its first flight. The company has carried out – and successfully completed – a wet dress rehearsal or a full run through of the rocket’s launch countdown. As The New York Times Blue Origin reportedly had to attempt to countdown several times within a few hours, but in the end the company managed to ignite and fire up New Glenn’s seven engines for 24 seconds.
New Glenn’s tanks were filled with fuel and the rocket was equipped with a 45,000-pound payload mass simulator as if it were actually going into space. Blue Origin says this is the first time the vehicle will operate as an integrated system. New Glenn SVP Jarrett Jones calls the completion of the test a “monumental milestone.” The Federal Aviation Administration has also done so granted The company has received a launch license for New Glenn, meaning it is now truly operational.
The company describes New Glenn as a “giant, reusable rocket built for bigger things.” It also said it was “designed with the safety and redundancy required to fly humans,” although its first flight will be unmanned. His first flight was supposed to be take place in October It carried two NASA satellites en route to Mars, but had to be scrapped because the rocket was not yet ready at the time. New Glenn will now fly for the first time on the company’s Blue Ring Pathfinder, part of its Blue Ring platform that will instead provide spacecraft services to customers such as the Pentagon. Although Blue Origin did not announce a new launch date for the rocket, it is expected to be the company’s first flight in 2025 could take place already on January 6th.
