Blue Origin Postpones New Glenn's 2nd Launch Due to Weather—When's the Next Launch Window?

Blue Origin has decided to postpone the anticipated second launch of its New Glenn rocket that was originally planned for a Sunday afternoon window due to bad weather conditions.

Blue Origin Postpones New Glenn's Second Launch

On Sunday, November 9, Blue Origin shared a post via X which announced that they are scrubbing the original launch plans to test out the New Glenn mega space rocket due to inclement weather.

According to the post, their second launch for the New Glenn was postponed due to the cumulus cloud rule. Flights are typically not allowed to take place if there are cumulus clouds present within the launch area.

Based on previous posts before the postponement announcement, Blue Origin already had a set time to launch the rocket at 4:12 p.m. EST, but around half an hour later, the company decided to shut down the launch.

Earlier in the day, Blue Origin was also gauging the weather conditions in the area and had already postponed the flight to Sunday afternoon due to weather conditions during their initial planned launch window.

According to TechCrunch's report, Blue Origin also dealt with multiple factors that prevented them from proceeding with New Glenn's second launch, and it is not exclusive to the cumulus cloud rule. First, the team found several minor problems on the launch pad equipment, and it was reported that there was at least one ship that ventured close to its flight path.

Blue Origin has only launched the rocket once in its history, with the first one taking place last January. The New Glenn (NG-1) mission successfully reached orbit but failed to land on its drone ship.

When to Expect New Glenn's New Launch Schedule

According to Blue Origin, they have already the next launch schedule for this second mission of the New Glenn reusable rocket, and they are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, November 12. The company shared that they have worked with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to select this new launch schedule for the New Glenn (NG-2) mission.

The Bezos-owned space company and the FAA have decided to set the launch window from 2:50 p.m. to 4:17 p.m. EST (19:50 to 21:17 UTC) for the rescheduled November 12 excursion.

According to Blue Origin, one of the main reasons behind this date is the forecasted weather, which appears to be more favorable for the launch, as well as taking into account the sea state conditions.

Blue Origin is banking heavily on the New Glenn reusable space rocket's success as they are looking to join the space race alongside their biggest rival, SpaceX, in a race against time to meet their contractual obligations.

There had been several delays to New Glenn's launch over the past year, including a supposed first launch in 2024, which was moved to January 2025.