WASHINGTON — Blue Origin says it still plans to attempt a first launch of its New Glenn rocket before the end of the year as it makes final vehicle and regulatory preparations.
The company reaffirmed the schedule for the inaugural flight, a mission called NG-1, in a Dec. 9 statement that also disclosed details about the payload for that flight. The rocket will carry Blue Ring Pathfinder, a payload that will test key technologies for its Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle.
Blue Ring Pathfinder consists of a communications array, power system and flight computer installed on a secondary payload adapter. Those systems will be tested while remaining attached to the second stage of the rocket during a six-hour mission.
“We’re excited to demonstrate Blue Ring’s advanced in-space operations on New Glenn’s inaugural mission,” Paul Ebertz, senior vice president for in-space systems at Blue Origin, in a company statement. “Blue Ring plays a critical role in building a road to space, and this mission is an important first step for Blue Ring and enabling dynamic and responsive operations that will greatly benefit our nation.”
Blue Ring, which Blue Origin announced in 2023, is a transfer vehicle for delivering satellites to their desired orbits and for hosting payloads that remain attached. The vehicle has 13 ports that can accommodate 3,000 kilograms of payloads, including a 2,500-kilogram payload on the top deck of the vehicle.
Blue Origin said in the statement that the NG-1 mission “is ready for launch this year” but did not provide a more specific schedule. The company plans to install Blue Ring Pathfinder on the rocket after a static-fire test of the vehicle’s first stage, which has yet to occur.
The company also needs a license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which had not been issued as of Dec. 9. Blue Origin has been performing tanking tests of the vehicle at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 36, Chief Executive Dave Limp said in a Dec. 8 social media post, while “we wait for regulatory approvals for hotfire and launch.”
“It’s literally on the pad now waiting for regulatory approval. It’s waiting for its final regulatory approval to launch, so we’re very, very close,” Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, said of New Glenn during a Dec. 4 conversation at the New York Times DealBook Summit. He also was not more specific about a launch date.
Blue Ring Pathfinder was not the original payload for the first New Glenn launch. The company had been working with NASA to use that launch for ESCAPADE, a pair of smallsats that will go to Mars to the study the interaction of the planet’s magnetosphere with the solar wind. However, NASA decided in early September to remove the spacecraft from the launch out of concerns that the vehicle would not be ready in time for a launch window in mid-October. NASA is now projecting launching ESCAPADE as soon as spring 2025 on another New Glenn.