Jeff Bezos’ Space Venture Scraps Historic Rocket Launch Just Minutes to Liftoff

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin has postponed the maiden launch of its New Glenn rocket due to technical issues. The launch event was scheduled for early Monday, featuring a prototype satellite liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The towering 320-foot (98-meter) rocket faced complications during the final countdown, forcing launch controllers to halt the clock and drain its fuel. Blue Origin has yet to announce a new date for the launch, indicating that further troubleshooting is necessary.

Prior to this, bad sea conditions had already delayed the test flight, complicating plans to land the booster on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. New Glenn is designed to be a significant step forward for Blue Origin, named in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, participated in the countdown from Mission Control located near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Despite the setback, Bezos remains optimistic, stating, “we’re going to pick ourselves up and keep going.”