(Bloomberg) -- A Blue Origin LLC mission to send satellites to Mars will be delayed until at least early 2025 over concerns about whether the Jeff Bezos-backed firm would be ready to launch as planned this year.
NASA said Friday that it would forgo an October flight “to avoid significant cost, schedule and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay.” The agency is assessing other launch opportunities and has discussed with Blue Origin a window no earlier than next spring, NASA said in a statement.
Blue Origin now plans to debut its orbital New Glenn rocket in November, moving up by a month a flight carrying Blue Ring technology that had previously been planned as the vehicle’s second mission.
The schedule upheaval underscores the difficulties for Blue Origin as it ramps up production of New Glenn, which is already four years overdue. Bloomberg reported last month that the company had recently suffered two major testing failures, which involved the destruction of New Glenn hardware slated for the rocket’s second and third flights.
Blue Origin was rushing to meet a tight deadline for the Mars mission, called Escapade, as the Earth’s orbit moved it closer to the Red Planet this fall. Typically, missions to Mars launch roughly every two years. Neither NASA nor Blue Origin clarified how New Glenn would be able to launch Escapade in the spring outside of the normal window.
Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s chief executive officer, told employees Friday that NASA’s decision was driven in part by “facility availability and range logistics.”
“We’ve been meeting with NASA regularly and they’ve been extremely complimentary about our delivery and execution so far,” Limp wrote in an internal email that was viewed by Bloomberg. “They just had to make a tough call given the deadline to fuel the vehicle could not move out any further.”
New Glenn’s inaugural mission will carry technology that Blue Origin has been developing for its Blue Ring program, aimed at developing spacecraft that can “tug” other satellites or refuel them in orbit. Blue Origin did not specify what the satellite will do while in orbit.
Blue Origin noted that this first launch would serve as a national security certification flight for New Glenn. The Space Force typically requires at least two certification flights in order for new rockets to start launching national security payloads.
Despite the delays and shifts, Limp encouraged employees to keep a sense of urgency moving forward.
“We can’t take our foot off the pedal here,” Limp wrote.
(Corrects wording in ninth paragraph to clarify that Blue Origin didn’t specify the number of planned certification flights)
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