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Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is preparing for a second launch of its New Glenn mega-rocket in “late spring,” the company announced Monday. The company also believes it has determined why the booster stage failed during an attempted landing on an ocean platform during the inaugural flight in January.
Blue Origin said it has identified “seven corrective actions” during the review of the booster failure, which was mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Those mainly focus around “propellant management and engine bleed control improvements.” The company said it has submitted all this information to the FAA.
New Glenn is Blue Origin’s first rocket that can get into orbit around the Earth. The company also hopes to use it to go further into space. Proving out those capabilities — and showing that the rocket can perform repeatedly — are key to putting Blue Origin in a position to compete against Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which currently dominates the launch market.
The 320-foot rocket has been in development for years and faced numerous delays. Blue Origin finally got to test it out in January. The rocket’s second stage successfully made it into orbit, but three of the booster’s engines did not properly re-light as it came back to Earth, the company said Monday. Blue Origin said it will attempt another booster landing during New Glenn’s second test flight.
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
