Bezos’ Blue Origin just scrubbed the debut launch for its flagship rocket
The SpaceX rival has grand plans for the New Glenn rocket, if it ever gets off the ground.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its largest-ever rocket on Monday morning because of a last-minute “subsystem issue” — another blow to the company’s bid to compete with SpaceX in the commercial space race.
The 30-stories-tall, partially reusable New Glenn launcher is the culmination of a decade-long, multibillion-dollar development spanning three CEOs and numerous delays.
Up, up, and away
Not content with dominating this planet, the new favorite hobby of the billionaire class is to compete in space, with the richest and second-richest men in the world, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, engaged in a futuristic face-off for the final frontier.
Unfortunately for the Amazon founder, he’s losing right now.
Indeed, Musk’s company SpaceX is dominating the industry, responsible for a skyrocketing ~65% of the total licensed commercial launches in the US since its founding. Blue Origin’s total launch count since its inception is only 16% of what SpaceX managed in 2024 alone.
New Glenn will unlock what Amazon’s founder and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos hopes will be a long line of contracts, as the rocket — which is expected to be twice as powerful as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 — reportedly carries the first prototype of a maneuverable spacecraft, which Blue Origin wants to sell to the Pentagon and beyond. If it ever gets off the ground, that is.
