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Blue Origin Delays Maiden Flight Of New Glenn Rocket From Cape Canaveral

Rendering of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket on the launch pad a LC-36 at Cape Canaveral. Photo: Blue Origin
Rendering of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket on the launch pad a LC-36 at Cape Canaveral. Photo: Blue Origin

Private rocket company Blue Origin said it will launch its newest rocket New Glenn from Cape Canaveral in late 2022. It’s about a year delay from the previously announced launch date of the more than 300-foot-tall rocket from Launch Complex 36.

Blue Origin said a decision by the Space Force not to select the company for a national security launch contract prompted the schedule change.

Despite the delay, Blue Origin is hard at work on the rocket at its factory just south of Kennedy Space Center and modifying LC-36 to launch New Glenn. In a release, the company says it has created 600 jobs on the space coast, with a total investment of some $2.5 billion in its factory and launch pad.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started Blue Origin back in 2000 and recently announced plans to inject $1 billion a year of his own cash into the rocket company.

Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing the organization's internship program. Byrne also hosts Central Florida Public Media's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration, and the weekly news roundup podcast "The Wrap."