Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were preparing to celebrate the billionaire's birthday with a major achievement. The Blue Origin owner had prepared the latest launch of the space technology company for January 12, but it seems the scheduled launch suffered a setback and had to be canceled.
Lauren had previously shared with People that she was "extremely excited" about the launch of New Glenn, which was named in honor of astronaut John Glenn. The rocket was unveiled in 2024 and was scheduled to launch in 2025, competing against Elon Musk's Space X.
The company shared a statement amid the cancelation, as many were prepared to watch the live stream with Jeff celebrating his 61st birthday with the launch.
"We're standing down on today's launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window. We're reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt," the company shared, explaining their decision and adding that they want to ensure everything goes as planned.
"We want to be clear about our objectives. This is our first flight and we've prepared rigorously for it," Blue Origin shared on Twitter/X. "But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations is a replacement for flying this rocket."
The company also said that they want to prioritize safety and are working on a new date for the launch. "Our key objective today is to reach orbit safely. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious — but we're going for it."
"No matter what happens, we'll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch," Blue Origin stated. Lauren had also talked about a potential all-female crew. "Women are explorers, too! Jeff always tells me that he's like, you know, you're an explorer. So I'm excited to take all these women out," she said to Good Day LA.