Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is ready for liftoff. After some weather-related delays over the weekend, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company said that the $2.5 billion reusable rocket, which has been in development for nearly 13 years, will target its first launch no earlier than Monday, January 13. Its three-hour launch window kicks off at 1AM ET. The webcast will begin an hour before launch, and you can watch New Glenn take flight on Blue Origin’s website, X or the company’s YouTube channel.
New Glenn’s inaugural mission (NG-1) will serve as its first Space Force national security certification flight, necessary to compete against the likes of SpaceX for Department of Defense and national intelligence contracts. Its reusable first stage is designed for at least 25 flights. Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production.
The Blue Ring Pathfinder
Blue Origin
Blue Origin describes New Glenn as “our giant, reusable rocket built for bigger things.” The “giant” bit is apt: The rocket stands over 320 ft (98 m) high. As for its “bigger things,” that includes the metaphorical (like potential missions to Mars) and literal: It can carry over 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 13 to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). By comparison, rival SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy can lift nearly 64 metric tons to LEO and almost 27 to GTO orbit.
On its maiden voyage, New Glenn will carry a prototype of the company’s multipurpose Blue Ring Pathfinder. The craft is designed to transport, refuel and host satellites and other spacecraft and can carry three metric tons of cargo into space. Friday’s launch will test Blue Ring’s core flight / ground systems and operational capabilities.
Blue Origin
After New Glenn lifts off from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, its reusable first stage will land on a barge, “Jacklyn,” floating several hundred miles away in the Atlantic Ocean.
New Glenn, named after pioneering astronaut John Glenn, completed its first launch countdown dress rehearsal on December 27. After several countdown attempts over a few hours, the rocket’s seven BE-4 engines ignited and fired for 24 seconds (spending 13 seconds at 100 percent thrust), paving the way for Friday’s targeted launch. The rocket’s first flight was initially slated for October, carrying two Mars-bound NASA satellites, but the launch was scrapped because it wouldn’t be ready by then.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/how-to-watch-blue-origins-inaugural-new-glenn-launch-013009830.html?src=rss
Understandably, the main building of Blue Origin's sprawling campus in Florida buzzed with activity on Sunday evening as the final hours ticked down toward the company's historic, first orbital launch. The time had come to celebrate a moment long awaited.
On one side of the large foyer, a multi-story print of the New Glenn rocket lit up on its launch pad hung from the wall. The striking image had been taken a day after Christmas, and put up in the lobby two days earlier. On the other side a massive replica of the company's "Mk. 1" lunar lander towered over caterers bustling through.
My escort and I took the elevators to the upper floor, where a walkway overlooks the factory where Blue Origin builds the first and second stages of its New Glenn rocket. There I met the chief executive of the company, Dave Limp, as well as the person responsible for all of this activity.
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The weeklong speedrunning marathon Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 wrapped up in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and organizers say it managed to pull in a total of $2,556,305 for Prevent Cancer Foundation.
As could be expected, the event in Pittsburgh brought a good mix of skill and silliness: there was a Crazy Taxi speedrun featuring a live band; FunkopotamusWes played the piano during his run of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, using his head and feet to control the game via motion controls; and Dr. Doot did an Elden Ring bosses speedrun using an electric saxophone. Yes, the saxophone did make little doot doot sounds the entire time.
The marathon ran continuously from January 5-12, so there are many, many more great moments besides these to catch up on if you missed it. Everything can be found on the Games Done Quick YouTube channel.
AGDQ is one of several charity-focused events held by Games Done Quick every year, and the next one, Back to Black is coming up in February. Highlighting Black hosts and speedrunners, that event (Feb 6-9) will raise money for the racial justice nonprofit, Race Forward. Over the years, Games Done Quick has raised more than $54 million for various charities including Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. AGDQ raised about $2.5 million during its marathon last year, too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/awesome-games-done-quick-raises-another-25-million-for-a-cancer-nonprofit-202228938.html?src=rss
A screen grab from the livestream of Awesome Games Done Good 2025 showing the live view (top left) of Dr Doot using an electric saxophone as a controller to defeat Elden Ring's Malena (right), shown during the cut scene as she enters phase 2 of the fight
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