Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space firm, Blue Origin, has called off its debut launch of the massive New Glenn rocket just minutes before liftoff. The company postponed the test flight due to ice buildup in critical plumbing, forcing a second attempt at least by Thursday.
The 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket was set to blast off with a prototype satellite on Monday morning, but engineers discovered ice in a purge line for one of its hydraulic systems during the countdown. With only minutes to spare, launch controllers couldn’t clear the issue before liftoff.
Poor weather forecasts for Cape Canaveral and SpaceX’s moonshot planned for Wednesday also contributed to the delay. The New Glenn rocket is five times taller than Blue Origin’s New Shepard, which carries paying customers to the edge of space from Texas.
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin 25 years ago, remained optimistic about the company’s progress. “We’re going to pick ourselves up and keep going,” he said over the weekend, as he watched Monday’s countdown from Mission Control.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/jeff-bezos-space-company-calls-off-debut-launch-117614157