New Glenn, the towering orbital rocket that Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin designed to compete with SpaceX’s dominant Falcon rockets, is back for its second launch ever — this time with a job to send twin spacecraft on a long, winding trip to Mars.The towering, 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is set to take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida during an 88-minute launch window that opens at 2:45 p.m. ET on Sunday. Blue Origin will have a livestream of the event on its company site.Weather may prove to be an issue, as forecasters have predicted a 35% to 45% chance that conditions will not be clear enough for liftoff.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf takeoff is delayed, Blue Origin said it has the ability to try again during launch windows on Sunday and Monday.The Federal Aviation Administration recently said that it was putting a stop to commercial rocket launches between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET, beginning Monday, to ease the burden on air traffic controllers amid the government shutdown.“We are working really closely with both our partners at the FAA and with the NASA team to ensure that we’re, of course, honoring and respecting the airspace expectations,” said Laura Maginnis, New Glenn’s vice president of mission management, during a Saturday news conference.Blue Origin aims to reuse rocket boostersBlue Origin is also attempting to land and recover New Glenn’s first-stage booster, which is the bottommost portion of the rocket that gives the initial burst of power at liftoff, on a seafaring barge called Jacklyn. Much like Blue Origin’s chief competitor, SpaceX — which has long been a dominant force in the commercial launch business — Blue Origin rockets are designed to be partially reused in order to drive down costs.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBlue Origin had hoped to nail its first attempt at landing a booster on New Glenn’s inaugural orbital flight in January, but engines failed to reignite properly, causing the rocket to veer off course.A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off on its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on January 16. – Steve Nesius/ReutersHowever, the primary mission of Blue Origin’s January launch — delivering a test satellite called the Blue Ring Pathfinder to orbit — went off without a hitch, prompting the company to declare the flight a success.But Blue Origin does view safely recovering and reusing its rocket boosters as crucial for its business model.Maginnis said during the Saturday news conference that working to pinpoint why the booster did not stick its landing in January, and implementing fixes to help it succeed this time around, were the primary reasons Blue Origin waited nearly 10 months to attempt a second New Glenn launch.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdver …
