How to watch Blue Origin’s inaugural New Glenn launch

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket Ready to take off. After some weather-related delays over the weekend Space company owned by Jeff Bezos He said the $2.5 billion reusable rocket, which has been in development for nearly 13 years, would do just that. goal Its first launch is no later than Monday, January 13. The three-hour launch window begins at 1 a.m. ET. The webcast will begin an hour before launch, and you can watch New Glenn take flight aboard Blue Origin’s Website, X Or the company YouTube channel.

The inaugural New Glenn (NG-1) mission will mark the Space Force’s first National Security Certification flight, needed to compete against the likes of SpaceX For Department of Defense and National Intelligence contracts. The reusable first stage is designed for at least 25 flights. Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production.

Blue original describes New Glenn as “our giant reusable rocket built for bigger things.” The “giant” part is right: The rocket is more than 320 feet (98 meters) tall. As for its “bigger stuff,” it includes the metaphorical (like potential missions to Mars) and the literal: It can carry more than 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 13 tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). In comparison, competitor SpaceX Falcon Heavy It can lift approximately 64 metric tons to LEO and approximately 27 metric tons to GTO orbit.

On its maiden flight, New Glenn will carry a prototype of the company’s Blue Ring Pathfinder multi-purpose vehicle. The vehicle is designed to transport, refuel and host satellites and other spacecraft, and can carry three metric tons of cargo into space. Friday’s launch will test Blue Ring’s basic flight/ground systems and operating capabilities.

After New Glenn lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, its reusable first stage will land on the barge Jacqueline, floating several hundred miles in the Atlantic Ocean.

New Glenn, named after astronaut John Glenn, It completed its first rehearsal of the countdown to its launch On December 27th. After several countdown attempts over the course of a few hours, the BE-4 rocket’s seven engines ignited and fired for 24 seconds (13 seconds spent at 100 percent thrust), setting the stage for Friday’s targeted launch. The first flight of the rocket was at the beginning Scheduled for OctoberIt carries two NASA satellites bound for Mars, but the launch was canceled because it would not be ready by then.