Solar activity lighting up night skies across North America this week is causing Jeff Bezos’ space company to postpone the second launch of its New Glenn giant rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Hours before Wednesday’s scheduled launch, Blue Origin announced it was canceling the project, a Mars-bound science mission into space for NASA, citing solar activity and its “potential impact on the ESCAPADE spacecraft.” A new release date has not yet been announced.
Newglen’s first launch in January was a near-successful demonstration mission for the rocket. But Blue Origin has postponed its second launch multiple times, and the company is being cautious because this is the first time the rocket will carry a commercial payload.
New Glenn was on the verge of taking off last Sunday, but the company shelved the plan due to weather concerns and a malfunction with a cruise ship in its flight path, as well as problems with the launch pad’s equipment.
