Posted: Sat, Sep 28, 2024, 6:56 AM ET (1056 GMT)

Blue Origin test-fired the upper stage of its first New Glenn rocket this week. The 15-second firing of the stage's two BE-3U engines, on the pad at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36, confirmed the integrated performance of the stage. The test was scheduled for earlier this month, and the delay appears to validate a NASA decision not to attempt a mid-October launch of the rocket carrying the ESCAPADE Mars mission. Blue Origin is instead pursuing a first launch of New Glenn in November carrying its own payload while ESCAPADE's launch has been pushed back to no earlier than next spring.