Nasa postpones Blue Origin’s Mars mission until next year

SAN FRANCISCO: A mission by Blue Origin LLC to send satellites to Mars is being delayed until at least early 2025 amid concerns about whether the Jeff Bezos-backed company will be ready to launch this year as planned.

NASA said Friday it would forego an October flight “to avoid significant costs, scheduling and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay.” The agency is currently evaluating other launch options and has discussed a time frame with Blue Origin no earlier than next spring, NASA said in a statement. Blue Origin now plans to launch its orbital New Glenn rocket in November, moving up by a month a flight using Blue Ring technology that was originally planned as the vehicle’s second mission.

The delay underscores the difficulties Blue Origin is facing in ramping up production of New Glenn, which is already four years overdue. Bloomberg reported last month that the company recently suffered two major test failures that destroyed New Glenn hardware intended for the rocket’s second and third flights.

Blue Origin had to rush to meet a tight deadline for the Mars mission, called Escapade, as Earth’s orbit took it closer to the Red Planet this fall. Missions to Mars typically launch about every two years. Neither NASA nor Blue Origin announced how New Glenn Escapade might launch outside of the normal time window in the spring.