Blue Origin targeting early Friday morning for historic first flight of New Glenn rocket
Capping years of anticipation, Blue Origin’s hulking New Glenn two-stage rocket may launch on its maiden mission during a three-hour window that opens at 1 a.m. Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, company officials announced Monday night.
After the rocket’s historic liftoff from Launch Complex 36 and stage separation, the New Glenn first-stage booster will target landing atop Jacklyn — Blue Origin’s drone ship and one of the world’s biggest remotely operated vessels — hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Musk vs Bezos: Upcoming Blue Origin New Glenn and SpaceX Starship launch dates
Coming soon to American launch pads: the competition of the heavy lifters as Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn and Elon Musk’s Starship may take to the skies within a very close timespan.
Both Blue Origin’s New Glenn and SpaceX’s Starship are posed for an upcoming launch — both possibly lifting off within days or even hours of each other.
On this date: ULA launches Vulcan rocket on Cert-1 mission
On this date in 2024, United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket flew its first certification mission at 2:18 a.m. from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
“It was so exciting. I ran outside so I could watch this thing lift off. And that was so cool, after so many years of development, to watch this thing fly,” Eric Monda, who works on ULA’s mission design team, said 10½ minutes after liftoff on NASA TV. “That was fantastic,” Monda said.
SpaceX launch recap: Updates from Starlink mission Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Launch recap: Scroll down to review live updates from the Wednesday, Jan. 8, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on the Starlink 12-11 mission.
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 on sunny, brisk Wednesday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
SpaceX launched the Space Coast’s third orbital rocket thus far in 2025 on Wednesday morning, startling hundreds of birds into flight from trees and vegetation near pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on the Starlink 12-11 mission at 10:27 a.m. EST, carrying another 21 internet satellites into low-Earth orbit. Thirteen of those satellites boast direct-to-cell communications capabilities, SpaceX reported.
DeSantis: Move NASA headquarters to Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would like to see NASA move its headquarters to Brevard County, the rocket launch capital of the world.
“There is an interest in moving the headquarters of NASA right here to Kennedy Space Center. And I’m supportive of that,” DeSantis said Wednesday, drawing applause during an afternoon press event at KSC.
On this date: NASA selects developer of Mercury spacecraft
On January 9, 1959, NASA selected the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to develop the Mercury spacecraft, which would later carry the first American astronauts into space, Alan Shepard and Virgil “Gus” Grissom.
This was a significant step in the early days of space exploration, as it involved the development of a 1.5-million-pound thrust rocket engine to power a future large space booster.
Blue Origin postpones New Glenn launch to Sunday, as high seas thwart booster landing try
Citing unfavorable oceanic conditions, Blue Origin crews now hope to launch the first New Glenn two-stage rocket on its maiden mission early Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The launch was originally scheduled for a three-hour window opening at 1 a.m. Friday. But high seas in the Atlantic Ocean, where the booster will attempt to land on a drone ship, prompted a two-day delay.
What to know: SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Friday
With Blue Origin’s New Glenn delayed, the SpaceX launch of its latest batch of Starlink satellites is next up from the Space Coast!
The Blue Origin rocket was delayed to no earlier than 1 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 12, due to unfavorable conditions offshore. The company delayed the launch to maximize chances at successfully landing the first-stage of the new rocket on its drone ship in the Atlantic.
On this date: Soviet Venera twin probe sets off for Venus
Just days after the launch of Venera 5 in 1969, the Soviet Union launched Venera 6 to continue exploration of Venus. The mission confirmed the high temperatures, pressures, and carbon dioxide composition (93-97%) and lack of water vapor in the Venusian atmosphere.
Together the Venera 5 and 6 probe data allowed a more precise determination of the atmospheric composition.
Launch recap: SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral breaks record
Launch recap: Scroll down to read updates from the Starlink 12-12 mission which launched at 2:11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Rocket launches in Florida: Here’s an updating list of all 2025 missions from Cape Canaveral
Florida’s Space Coast — home of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — is the reigning rocket launch capital of the world.
Last year saw a new annual record of 93 launches, with the final mission of 2024 taking flight on New Year’s Eve. Will that record fall by the wayside by the end of 2025?
Record-breaking flight: SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sees 25th booster flight
After much delay, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took to the clear skies Friday afternoon on a record-breaking 25th flight — leaving many to wonder just how many flights a reusable Falcon 9 booster will eventually see.
Originally set to lift off in the morning, the launch of the Starlink 12-12 mission was pushed back towards the end of the allotted launch window. The rocket lifted off at 2:11 p.m. from Cape Canaveral, Space Launch Complex 40. Its payload: the latest batch of 21 Starlink internet satellites, including 13 with direct to cell capabilities.
On this date: Kennedy State of the Union lays out reasons for 1st lunar mission
In his State of the Union message to the Congress on this date in 1962, President John F. Kennedy re-enforced the reasons behind the U.S. efforts to reach the moon.
“With the approval of this Congress, we have undertaken in the past year a great new effort in outer space,” Kennedy said. “Our aim is not simply to be first on the moon, any more than Charles Lindbergh’s real aim was to be first to Paris. His aim was to develop the techniques and the authority of this country and other countries in the field of the air and the atmosphere, and our objective in making this effort, which we hope will place one of our citizens on the moon, is to develop in a new frontier of science, commerce and cooperation, the position of the United States and the free world. This nation belongs among the first to explore it. And among the first — if not the first — we shall be.”
High seas delay Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch try again; crews targeting Monday morning
Poor offshore weather has again prompted Blue Origin to delay the debut launch of its mighty 320-foot-plus New Glenn, and crews are now eyeing a new attempt early Monday morning.
“Sea state conditions are still unfavorable for booster landing. We’re shifting our NG-1 launch date by one day to no earlier than January 13. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Monday at 1 a.m. EST,” a Blue Origin spokesperson said in a Saturday afternoon email.
On this date: U.S. Rep. Nelson launches onboard space shuttle Columbia
On this date in 1986, outgoing NASA Administrator, then-U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson and six additional astronauts launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS 61C. Shuttle flights had become fairly routine at this point. But this mission would be the last successful mission before the disastrous launch of Space Shuttle Challenger just a few days after Columbia returned from orbit.
For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale atRneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1