Bezos’ Blue Origin calls of debut New Glenn launch over rocket issue

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin called off the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida early on Monday over last-minute issues on the vehicle, as it neared a pivotal debut in Earth orbit to compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch market.

Standing 30 stories tall, the partially reusable New Glenn launcher sat on Blue Origin's launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ready for a liftoff that was initially scheduled for 1:00 am ET (0600 GMT) after being loaded with methane and liquid oxygen propellants.

But late in the countdown, Blue Origin repeatedly pushed back the liftoff time, inching closer to the end of New Glenn's launch window at 4 am. A spokeswoman on a company live feed said mission teams were examining "a few anomalies."

"We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window," Blue Origin said in a statement. "We’re reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt."

The delay could be at least 24 hours but will likely last longer as the company examines the snag for the high-risk, high-stakes mission.