Nasa delays Blue Origin Mars mission until next year

Nasa said Friday that it would forgo an October flight "to avoid significant cost, schedule and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay." The agency is assessing other launch opportunities and has discussed with Blue Origin a window no earlier than next spring, Nasa said in a statement. Blue Origin now plans to debut its orbital New Glenn rocket in November, moving up by a month a flight carrying Blue Ring technology that had previously been planned as the vehicle's second mission.