New Glenn’s integrated vehicle hotfire on Dec. 27, 2024. Photo: Blue Origin

Blue Origin is nearing the debut launch of its New Glenn rocket after completing an integrated hotfire test and receiving its launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Blue Origin has not yet announced a date for the first launch, but the FAA’s Operations Plan Advisory lists the launch for Wednesday, Jan. 8, with a backup opportunity on Friday, Jan. 10.

Blue Origin announced Dec. 27 that it completed the hot fire test that same day, firing seven engines for 24 seconds. The company said this was the first time it operated the entire flight vehicle as an integrated system. Blue Origin performed a formal wet dress rehearsal, going through the final launch procedures before the hot fire.

Blue Origin reported the campaign met all objectives, and reported the seven engines performed nominally for the 24 second testing, including operating at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. 

“This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch,” said Jarrett Jones, Blue Origin senior vice president of New Glenn. “Today’s success proves that our rigorous approach to testing — combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering — is working as intended.” 

Also on December 27, the FAA issued a commercial space launch license for the first New Glenn launch, confirming Blue Origin met the agency’s safety, environmental, and other licensing requirements. 

Blue Origin is now licensed for five years to conduct orbital missions from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with the reusable New Glenn first stage landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The first launch will take place from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will carry the Blue Origin-built space logistics vehicle Blue Ring and serve as the first National Security Space Launch certification flight for U.S. national security missions. It was previously planned to launch NASA’s ESCAPADE spacecraft, but NASA pulled it from the manifest. 

New Glenn is Blue Origin’s heavy-lift rocket with a seven meter payload fairing – large enough to hold three school buses. Its customers include NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation, AST SpaceMobile, Eutelsat, and others. 

The rocket has been a long time in the making and will make its debut after years of delays. It was announced in 2016, and previously set to debut with a Eutelsat mission in 2020. 

Blue Origin expects New Glenn to alleviate some of the scarcity in the launch market, Jones said in September at World Space Business Week. 

“New Glenn will minimize the scarcity of launch providers,” Jones said. “We want to open up space for everyone. As new launchers come on, they will provide service to meet this demand. You will get even more demand when the price comes down for launch.”

“We want to be the player in the market, that the market wants. New Glenn is designed to launch 25 times. We have talked about 12 launches in 2025, and then we are looking to double it,” he added.

This story was published on Dec. 31 and republished on Jan. 4 with the latest information from the FAA