Blue Origin has postponed the debut of its New Glenn rocket following the loss of a major Pentagon contract.
Though trailing SpaceX, Blue Origin—founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos of Amazon—remains a key player in the space industry. The company has developed the 95-meter-tall, partially reusable New Glenn rocket, capable of delivering up to 14 tons to geostationary orbit or 50 tons to low Earth orbit.
New Glenn is slated to join NASA's commercial launch fleet for missions starting in the mid-2020s.
Initial plans targeted a first flight this year, but Blue Origin announced Thursday that the launch will now occur in the second half of 2022, due to the lost Pentagon contract from last year.
Blue Origin had bid for the U.S. Air Force's National Security Space Launch program, which awarded multi-billion-dollar contracts for Pentagon missions from 2022 to 2027. Ultimately, the Air Force selected SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture).
Jarrett Jones, Blue Origin's senior vice president, pegged the contract value at about $3 billion. "We hope to launch national security payloads in the future and remain committed to the U.S. defense mission," the company stated in a press release.
This setback stings, but Blue Origin eyes brighter days. Jeff Bezos, transitioning from Amazon CEO to executive chairman, plans deeper involvement.
The company remains in contention for NASA's Artemis program to land humans on the Moon with its upgraded Blue Moon lander, competing against Dynetics and SpaceX.
Blue Origin's BE-4 engine, powering New Glenn, will also propel United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket—the winner of that Pentagon contract—slated for launch by year's end.
