Jeff Bezos’s New Glenn debut launch called off
The launch of a huge, partially reusable rocket, built by Jeff Bezos’s company, has been called off this morning after hours of delays.
The 98-metre rocket, called New Glenn, is around as tall as Big Ben. It was set to carry up to 45 tonnes of tech to low Earth orbit.
However, the team at Blue Origin, Amazon founder Mr Bezos’s space technology company, confirmed this morning that the launch was called off.
The decision came following a series of delays due to unspecified issues.
As it happened: See our coverage from the launch
New Glenn on the launch pad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in December. Pic: Blue Origin
The team said they would work out a new date for lift-off, adding: “We can’t wait to get right back here for our next launch attempt.”
The team said earlier this morning that they were “working through anomalies”.
Speaking in an interview before the launch, Mr Bezos said “the thing we’re most nervous about is the booster landing”.
“Clearly on a first flight you could have an anomaly at any mission phase, so anything could happen,” he said.
New Glenn’s builders hope it will challenge SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which has become the go-to workhorse to get heavy cargo into space.
However, it has taken Blue Origin years to get to this point.
They started developing the orbital rocket almost a decade ago, but setbacks and delays pushed back its maiden voyage.
Ahead of the launch, SpaceX founder and X owner Elon Musk, shared his support, writing “good luck” in a response to a post by Blue Origin on his platform.
Reusable first stage
The rocket – named New Glenn in honour of NASA astronaut John Glenn, has two stages, one of which is reusable.
The first, reusable stage will use seven engines to blast the rocket off the launch pad into higher, thinner air and then drop back to Earth to land on a sea platform called Jacklyn.
New Glenn’s enormous first stage is transported from its factory. Pic: Blue Origin
That first stage is built to fly at least 25 times, making it more cost-effective and sustainable than building new rockets for every flight.
The second, disposable stage is where cargo and items needed for missions will be stored.
Read more:
Is Jeff Bezos chasing down Elon Musk in space race?
Stranded astronauts ‘don’t feel like castaways’
The two restartable engines on board will kick in once the first stage has used up all its fuel.
They’ll take the rest of the spacecraft out to orbit.
New Glenn could be a gamechanger
The New Glenn rocket is one to watch in the world of space.
Partially reusable and capable of lifting heavy payloads into Earth orbit or even the Moon or Mars, it promises to be a serious rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9.
With his first big rocket only scheduled for launch now, you’d be forgiven for thinking Amazon boss Jeff Bezos was a latecomer to the billionaire boys club sending shiny machines into space.
In fact, Bezos founded his space venture Blue Origin 25 years ago, before Elon Musk created SpaceX and Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic.
His rocket business kept a low profile until 2015 when it launched its sub-orbital space tourism vehicle New Shepherd 100km above the Earth.
While New Shephard can be dismissed as a billionaire’s plaything for millionaire passengers, New Glenn could be a game changer.
It’s a key tool to deliver Bezos’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband network – a direct challenge to Musk’s Starlink system.
Blue Origin is also working on a lunar lander and, its thought, crew capsules so it can offer its services ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station or be part of NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon.
New Glenn is set to carry Blue Ring, an experimental “space tug” and satellite support platform, but for Jeff Bezos, there’s a lot more riding on this rocket than that.
Cargo
Rockets like this are designed to take things into orbit or out to space, so they need to be able to carry cargo.
When Mr Musk launched SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018, he popped his old red Tesla Roadster on board.
Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster was launched into space during a Falcon test flight in 2018. Pic: SpaceX
The Blue Ring Pathfinder heading into New Glenn’s huge cargo area. Pic: Blue Origin
Mr Bezos hasn’t done anything as showy as that. Instead, he loaded a prototype cargo carrier onto New Glenn, called the Blue Ring Pathfinder.
In the future, the Pathfinder will be able to carry 3,000kg of scientific gear into space and deliver it to different locations in orbit.
During this test flight, the team back on the ground will make sure they can establish communications with the Pathfinder once it is in orbit.
US
Trump engaged in unprecedented criminal effort to overturn 2020 election, prosecutor’s report says
President-elect Donald Trump engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a report by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Prosecutor Mr Smith said Mr Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” in the January 6 riots and knowingly spread a false narrative about fraud in the 2020 election.
However, efforts to bring Mr Trump to trial over his attempt to hold on to power were thwarted by his re-election in November, the special prosecutor said in his report, which was released by the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
He also found charges could be justified against Mr Trump’s co-conspirators but reached no final conclusions.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021. Pic: AP
Mr Smith resigned in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory in November.
“Indeed, but for Mr Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” Mr Smith’s report said.
The release of the report comes a few days after Mr Trump was sentenced following his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
Special counsel Jack Smith. Pic: AP
President-elect Mr Trump has consistently criticised Mr Smith and allies have suggested the special counsel should now face criminal charges for pursuing the case against him.
In the wake of the release of the report, Mr Trump called Mr Smith “deranged” and criticised the report’s “fake findings”.
Released alongside the report was a letter from lawyers for Mr Trump to the justice department, dated 6 January 2025.
In it, they called for Mr Smith to “terminate all efforts toward the preparation and release” of the report, which they said was “consistent with the bad-faith crusade” that they said Mr Smith conducted on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration.
The special prosecutor defended his investigation, saying: “The claim from Mr Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.”
Read more:
January 6: The case against Donald Trump
January 6: How four hours of mayhem unfolded
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Hush money case: Trump reacts to becoming a felon
Mr Smith’s case had faced legal hurdles even before it was clear that Mr Trump would be returning to the White House.
It was paused for months as the former president pursued a legal claim that he could not be prosecuted for official actions taken during his time as commander-in-chief.
The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, largely agreed with him, granting former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Other allegations in the report released today include:
• Mr Trump contacted legislators and executives at state level and “urged them to take action to ignore the vote counts and change the results”
• Mr Trump and co-conspirators launched a plan to use fraudulent electors in seven states that he had lost in the 2020 election to send false certifications to Washington DC
• Frustrated with the justice department because it had identified no evidence of substantial fraud in the 2020 election, Mr Trump “attempted to wield federal power to perpetuate his fraud claims and retain office”
• Mr Trump repeatedly pressed then vice president Mike Pence to use his ministerial position as president of the Senate to change the election outcome – something Mr Pence repeatedly refused to do.
Police are reportedly focusing on a possible human cause in early investigations into what caused the deadly Palisades fire in Los Angeles.
Several law enforcement sources told Sky’s partner site NBC News potential lines of inquiry involve fireworks or unauthorised individuals camping in the area.
Stressing no conclusions have been reached, they said other possibilities include accidental equipment-related ignition, and said arson is not being ruled out.
Fires latest – at least 24 people killed
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Sky presenter challenges LA officials
At least 24 people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed in the wildfires that have raged across Los Angeles.
Most of the destruction has been wrought by the Palisades fire, which has torched nearly 24,000 acres and is just 14% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Officials have not yet identified the cause of any of the Los Angeles fires.
Firefighters put out a smouldering hot spot. Pics: Reuters
A lawsuit has been filed against utility company Southern California Edison claiming its equipment sparked the Eaton fire.
The blaze in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of the city has burned through 14,000 acres and was 33% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Edison has acknowledged fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started a smaller fire in the LA area that broke out on the same day.
Read more:
Santa Ana winds that fuelled wildfires are back – here’s what it could mean
A woman walks past destroyed homes. Pic: Reuters
It comes as additional firefighters and water tankers have deployed ahead of the forecast return of fierce Santa Ana winds which threaten to whip up the two massive wildfires.
Planes have been working to douse homes and hillsides with pink fire-retardant chemicals, while dozens of water trucks have worked to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week.
“We’re absolutely better prepared,” LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said when he was asked what will be different from a week ago.
But he warned high winds could ground firefighting aircraft and said if they reach 70mph “it’s going to be very difficult to contain that fire”.
A third fire that has burned nearly 800 acres is 95% contained, while three other fires in California have been fully brought under control in recent days.
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