Very early this morning Blue Origin made the decision to scrub the first launch of its New Glenn rocket. This came after the company had repeatedly delayed the countdown in around 20-minute increments over the course of the 3-hour launch window.
During the official live stream, they were vague and mentioned that teams were working on a few anomalies. While not ideal, scrubbing the maiden flight of a rocket is by no means unusual, and not long from now we should expect the vehicle ready to launch. Here I will go more in-depth into the first attempt, what caused it, and more.
Launch Scrubbed
The 3-hour launch window opened at 1 am EST time this morning. By the time the official live stream began, the rocket was already full of propellant and the countdown was around T – 40 minutes. However, over the next few hours, Blue Origin would continue to increase the countdown clock by 20 to 30 minutes, usually when it was around T – 10 minutes.
In total, they did this five times. Looking at the company’s tweets you can see a list of these changes which occurred throughout the night. Eventually, as they got closer to the end of the launch window, we got confirmation that it was being scrubbed. They were quoted on the official livestream saying, “Just been getting an update from mission control, we are standing down from today’s launch attempt” they said.
At the same time, Blue Origin tweeted a similar statement saying, “We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We’re reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt.” This statement alone is helpful but still leaves more specific questions unanswered.
For even more context, about 45 minutes before the scrub during the live stream, they were quoted saying, “Things are busy, the team is continuing to work through a few anomalies before we can proceed into terminal count. So we’ve got the engineers looking at all that data, we’ve got the controllers working through workarounds” they said. This statement suggests there were a few different issues around the rocket that teams were trying to fix within the 3-hour launch window.
Importantly, the reason Blue Origin continued to delay the mission in relatively small increments rather than scrubbing immediately was the hope that they could fix the problem within the launch window.
Eric Berger reported that “the primary problem was likely ice clogging one of the vent lines that carry pressurized gas away from the vehicle. Additionally, there appears to have been a problem with at least one of the auxiliary power units that provide power to the rocket after the engines shut off” he wrote.
These specific anomalies would match up with the livestream and some of the general information provided by Blue Origin. Soon after the start of the livestream, Blue Origin made it to the System Functional Checks stage which comes before a weather check and then the terminal count. They would end up staying in this same stage throughout practically the entire launch window.
As far as what they do during this stage, they were quoted saying, “So right now we’re completing a systems functional check for New Glenn. This is critical because we’re ensuring that all of our systems are operating nominally. We’re gonna verify propulsion, avionics, guidance, communications, and even safety systems. Our engineers are also running diagnostics on all the BE-4s and BE-3s. We’re checking flight computers, we’re checking telemetry. We’re also gonna do one final comm check. This is crucial because we want to make sure that we are getting the right data between the rocket and the ground as well as verifying the signal integrity” they said.
With that in mind, it makes sense this stage is where the anomalies arose as it’s one of the last checks before liftoff. In the grand scheme of things, a scrub on the first launch attempt of a brand new heavy-lift partially reusable rocket is nothing out of the ordinary. Blue Origin would much rather delay the launch and take their time if it means increasing the chances of reaching orbit and even landing the booster on the first try. With new rockets issues like these are common and shouldn’t cause any significant delays going forward. Hopefully, in the next few days, Blue Origin will provide additional information on exactly what the anomalies were.
Next Launch Opportunity
With the first attempt called off the question now becomes when will New Glenn be back on the pad ready to launch. Unfortunately, Blue Origin didn’t provide a launch date in any of their post-scrub statements. On the livestream they were quoted saying, “Now to give the viewers a sense of what happens next, the launch team is now working to detank and safe the vehicle. From there we’re going to assess as mentioned, what are the things we might want to get done in our downtime, and that is what’s going to guide when the next launch opportunity is” they said.
Realistically, it likely will be a few days at the earliest due to a few different reasons. The first being work on the different anomalies that came up during the launch window. Depending on how severe they are, teams at Blue Origin will work to solve and prepare the rocket once again.
The other big factor has to do with the sea state where Jacklyn will be positioned and the booster landing is supposed to take place. Two times now before this morning’s attempt, the launch date was pushed back due to high sea states in the Atlantic. In other words, rough seas and high winds that Blue Origin was trying to avoid.
A few days ago on January 9, they tweeted, “New Glenn Launch Update: We’re shifting our NG-1 launch date to no earlier than January 12 due to a high sea state in the Atlantic where we hope to land our booster. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Sunday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).” However, they would end up tweeting again saying, “New Glenn Launch Update: Sea state conditions are still unfavorable for booster landing. We’re shifting our NG-1 launch date by one day to no earlier than January 13. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Monday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).”
This morning’s attempt seemed to be one of the only windows where the sea state was calm enough to give Blue Origin confidence in attempting the first flight. All that being said, reports are coming out that the sea state may continue to be an issue in the near future which could also impact the launch date.
If the company is going to try and land a massive rocket booster on the first try, they want the conditions to be perfect. Its also worth noting that Blue Origin has made it clear that the primary goal of this maiden flight is to reach orbit.
Recently Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin was quoted saying, “Pointy end up! New Glenn is vertical at LC-36 in Florida. Just need the sea to settle down a bit. Some context on our 1/12 target launch date—our objective is to reach orbit. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Landing our booster offshore is ambitious—but we’re going for it. No matter what, we will learn a lot” he said.
The Senior Vice President for New Glenn commented, “This is our first flight and we’ve prepared rigorously for it. But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations are a replacement for flying this rocket. It’s time to fly. No matter what happens, we’ll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch” he said. In an official statement from the company, they had a similar message. They were quoted saying, “Our key objective is to reach orbit safely. We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious—but we’re going for it.”
When the launch does eventually happen, at T+7 min, 17sec, the booster reentry burn will begin and last 28 seconds. About a minute later the landing burn will begin and last 36 seconds before the booster touches down on the ship. Those initial burns will use the three-center gimballed engines and cut to just one engine right before touchdown.
Dave Limp was quoted saying, “The seven BE-4 engines in this image will deliver more than 3.8 million pounds of thrust for New Glenn. Three of the seven engines gimbal to provide the control authority for New Glenn during ascent, re-entry, and landing on Jacklyn, our recovery vessel downrange at sea. That gimbal capability, along with the landing gear and Reaction Control System thrusters, are key to making our booster fully reusable. Fun fact: The vehicle’s max design gimbal condition is during ascent when it has to fight high-altitude winds” he said.
When he mentions 3 engines gimball, in the picture provided he’s referring to the center engine and one at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. In other words, they form a straight line horizontally in the image of the engines. Also as he mentioned, this will be used both during ascent but also for the landing burn and controlling the descent onto the landing vessel.
Conclusion
During New Glenn’s first launch attempt, there were a few anomalies that delayed the countdown leading to an eventual scrub. This is not out of the ordinary for a new rocket, especially one that’s heavy lift and partially reusable. In the next few days, we should hear more from Blue Origin as they solve any issues and work to get the rocket back on the pad filled with propellant.