Blue Origin scrubs first New Glenn launch attempt

After roughly two hours of delays, Blue Origin scrubbed its first night of attempting to launch New Glenn. This was to be expected, as large rockets can be quite difficult to get launched for the first time. What wasn’t expected, or what should have been expected given past streams, was the lack of information throughout the night as to what was happening.

Blue Origin attempting to solve ‘vehicle subsystem issue’

Blue Origin’s NG-1 mission, called “So You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance,” was scheduled to start at 1:00 A.M. ET. It was reported that the launch would be delayed to 1:30 A.M., but no official confirmation was provided. The livestream began later than planned, and a countdown clock eventually indicated a launch at 1:31 A.M.

The launch was delayed another five times, usually getting down to the early to late teens before resetting to roughly T-30 to 35 minutes. No reasons were given as to why the launches were being delayed. The closest we ever got to something was at about 2:25 A.M. ET when a webcast host shared that teams were “working around multiple anomalies.”

The final T-minus time stated was 3:15 A.M. ET before the clock was entirely removed, and unofficial reports came in of scrubs at around 3:00 A.M. ET.

Blue Origin stated that teams were working “to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window.” The company gave no new launch date. With the weather also deteriorating in the area, a launch later in the week would likely be the earliest.

Ars Technica reports that the scrub was likely due to ice clogging vent lines, and teams were unsuccessful at melting the ice. Ars also states there was an issue with an auxiliary power supply that would have been used during descent and landing. Without it, it likely would have meant no landing attempt on the barge named Jacklyn.

Blue Origin could have just put on the worst stream ever

It was a very likely chance that something like this could have taken place. New rockets run into many issues in early launch attempts. Delays are just part of the game when launching a new rocket.

What should not be part of the game are streams that lack any useful launch information and make you sit there guessing as to what is happening.

Surprisingly, the stream was well-structured with two hosts at the desk, both having extensive experience working on New Glenn. Another host was around the launch control and Mission Control rooms, and a third was with employees and their families at a local park.

However, not a single one of them was able to share any inside knowledge about their position on the stream, as they were mostly stuck with scripted segments that broke up pre-recorded promotional videos. With no live Mission Control audio and the host not sharing recaps of what was being discussed inside the rooms, we were mostly left to speculate what might be going on with the rocket.

While we might be spoiled with SpaceX‘s method of streaming its launches, the overall consensus online was that Blue Origin truly dropped the ball on NG-1’s coverage and we could have used fewer scripts and more launch information.