Nasa said Friday that it would forgo an October flight “to avoid significant cost, schedule and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay.” The agency is assessing other launch opportunities and has discussed with Blue Origin a window no earlier than next spring, Nasa said in a statement. Blue Origin now plans to debut its orbital New Glenn rocket in November, moving up by a month a flight carrying Blue Ring technology that had previously been planned as the vehicle’s second mission.
The schedule upheaval underscores the difficulties for Blue Origin as it ramps up production of New Glenn, which is already four years overdue. Bloomberg reported last month that the company had recently suffered two major testing failures, which involved the destruction of New Glenn hardware slated for the rocket’s second and third flights.
Blue Origin was rushing to meet a tight deadline for the Mars mission, called Escapade, as the Earth’s orbit moved it closer to the Red Planet this fall. Typically, missions to Mars launch roughly every two years. Neither Nasa nor Blue Origin clarified how New Glenn would be able to launch Escapade in the spring outside of the normal window.