New Glenn, the powerful orbital rocket built by Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, is on the launchpad in Florida. When the sky did not clear he stopped on the ground. The tentative time of launch, which was initially scheduled for 2:45 pm, was pushed back several times.

At the end of the 88-minute launch window, mission managers called off the launch. That means NASA’s ESCAPADE mission – two identical spacecraft that will orbit Mars to measure the dynamics of that planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere – will have to wait another day to begin their journey. Story continues below this advertisement The company said in a post on social platform X on Sunday night that it would next try to launch before 2:50 pm on Wednesday.

Blue Origin appears to have been exempted from the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement that starting Monday, no commercial rockets can fly between 6 a. m.

and 10 p. m.

local time. It is part of an effort to relieve congestion in the country’s airspace during the ongoing shutdown of the federal government. “We worked with the FAA and Range to select the launch window,” the post said.

What is New Glenn Rocket? At 321 feet long, New Glenn is a giant. That’s longer than the Falcon 9 rockets regularly flown by SpaceX, but shorter than the Starship vehicle the company is testing in Texas.

Story continues below this advertisement The rocket is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Its payload nose cone, 7 meters wide, provides at least twice the space for payload as other rockets currently in operation. The booster stage – the lower part of the rocket that lifts off the ground and carries the upper stage through the densest part of the atmosphere – is designed to land and be reused.