Elon Musk declared This about Blue Origin New Glenn 2nd Launch Scrubbed!

Blue Origin was gearing up to launch a critical NASA mission to Mars on New Glenn's second test flight yesterday, but the launch was scrubbed after three consecutive countdown holds due to a series of issues. And as expected, Elon Musk immediately jumped in to roast Jeff Bezos, turning the whole event into a classic joke on X. So, what did he say this time, and why was New Glenn delayed again? Let's find out in today's episode of Alpha Tech. Unfortunately for New Glenn and Blue Origin fans, their long- awaited second flight, nearly 10 months after the first one, back on January 16th, scrubbed in disappointment. On November 9th, 2025, tens of thousands of viewers tuned in to Blue Origin's live webcast on X starting from 11:30 a.m., eagerly waiting to witness a historic moment, New Glenn's very first commercial configuration launch. The rocket was set to carry NASA's Escapade mission, two twin spacecraft built by Rocket Lab, weighing over one ton in total, into a phasing orbit around the L2 Lrange point. There, the pair would wait until the next Mars transfer window next year before beginning their own journey to the red planet. Now, that doesn't sound like a big deal. After all, SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have done similar missions countless times. But for Blue Origin to attempt such a highstakes NASA mission on just its second flight ever, that's quite a bold move. And perhaps that's why they were being extra cautious. During the countdown, the ground team had to call three separate holds for various reasons. The first one was due to bad weather. Dark clouds covered the sky that morning. Once things cleared up, the countdown resumed, but then came a small issue with the ground support equipment, possibly related to the LVHD arm retraction. And if that wasn't enough, a cruise ship wandered into the keepout zone, forcing the range safety officers to delay the launch yet again. >> Another potential use surveillance violation with a cruise ship, but we're still working on Coast Guard to make contact. >> Someone on X even shared a meme of Elon Musk relaxing on a yacht, joking that he was personally sailing into the exclusion zone just to mess with Blue Origin's launch. With Musk's wild personality, it almost sounds believable, but not this time. In fact, Musk actually wished them luck, posting a simple Godspeed polite words, but also a subtle reminder that this mission carries real risks. Then, just when everything seemed ready, the countdown hit T433 and was held again. The culprit cumulus clouds again, and that was it. The launch was officially scrubbed and rescheduled for November 12th in the afternoon. Blue Origin confirmed it on X, saying our next launch attempt is no earlier than Wednesday, November 12th, due to forecasted weather and seastate conditions. So yeah, once again, the weather and maybe a bit of bad luck managed to ground New Glenn before it even left the pad. Honestly, whether holds or a cruise ship wandering into the launch zone, SpaceX has dealt with that plenty of times before. It's really nothing out of the ordinary. So Elon Musk didn't bother mocking Blue Origin for that. Instead, as always, he went after something far funnier, New Glenn's appearance and how it's erected on the pad. Under Jeff Bezos's post, Musk simply commented, "Morning glory." Classic Musk humor. And what made it even funnier was the context, "New Glenn has to be lifted upright using a transporter erector." While Starship, on the other hand, always stands tall, already vertical, already massive. For comparison, New Glenn stands 98 m tall, 7 m wide, and can lift 45 tons to LEO, or around 14 tons to GTO, a true heavy lift rocket by any standard. But next to Starship, it's still no match. The upcoming Starship version 3 will tower over 124 m, 9 m, in diameter, and deliver 180 to 200 tons to LEO, nearly four times New Glenn's payload. Its total liftoff thrust 8200 tons, about 4.6 times greater than New Glenn's 1780 tons. In other words, one Starship V3 equals about four new Glenns combined and stands a full head taller. But that's still not the end. Elon has already confirmed Starship version 4 expected around 2027 to 2028 with stretch tanks on both stages a stacked height of 142 m and roughly 30% more propellant boosting LEO payload up to 300 tons per launch. At that point, one Starship V4 will equal 6 or seven new Glenns in raw power. When it comes to size, height, and sheer muscle, Starship simply plays in another league. Whether the same can be said for Elon and Jeff, though, well, that's another story. This, of course, isn't the first time Elon has poked fun at Jeff Bezos like that. Back in the day, when Blue Origin proudly showed off a render of New Shepard with that round nose cone, Elon immediately jumped on X with a tweet, "Your rocket needs to be more pointy," and posted a sidebyside image of Starship Sharp, sleek and menacing, versus New Glenn, which honestly looked like a flying rice cooker. That tweet was later deleted, but it perfectly captured Musk's sense of humor and his obsession with Starship's appearance. As he once said on the Joe Rogan podcast, I told my team, "Make Starship more pointy because round is not scary. Pointy is scary." He even quoted a scene from the dictator by Sasha Baron Cohen where General Aladine shouts, "Make the tip more pointy." And yes, Musk admitted Starship is literally more pointy because of that movie. But jokes aside, these little jabs reveal something deeper. The neverending rivalry between two space companies born around the same time. They're like old friends who just happen to be locked in an allout race to the stars. And of course, rockets aren't the only battlefield where these two titans clash. Politics is another one. Just last year, Musk stirred up the internet when he posted on X naming Jeff Bezos directly saying, "Just learned tonight at Mara Lago that Jeff Bezos was telling everyone that Donald Trump would lose for sure, so they should sell all their Tesla and SpaceX stock." That post came right after Musk went allin on Trump investing $250 million into a proTrump pass and tweeting about politics almost daily. Meanwhile, Bezos, whose Washington Post was accused of favoring Kla Harris, reportedly refused to endorse any candidate for the first time in 50 years, fearing Trump's retaliation. When Trump won, Big Musk's empire soared. Tesla stock jumped over 20% in a week from $340 to more than $400. And SpaceX's valuation skyrocketed as well. So, when Musk dropped that rumor, it felt like he was taunting Bezos. You told them to sell and now I'm the one getting richer. How's that working out for you? It was the latest chapter in their two decadel long rivalry. Musk now closely aligned with Trump and Bezos facing tighter scrutiny on Amazon's regulations. According to Musk, he heard it from someone at Mara Lago basically flexing his new political connections. But when Bezos responded directly with a simple, "Nope. 100% not true." Musk cheekily replied, "Well, then I stand corrected, a half apology, half smirk." But by that point, the original tweet had already gone insanely viral, and Tesla stock had pumped a little more. Now, back to the main story. Blue Origin isn't giving up just yet. The second new Glenn flight is already being rescheduled, and this time, it's carrying more than just NASA's twin escapade spacecraft. A secondary payload from Viasat will also be on board to test new communication technologies for NASA. But the real highlight is this Blue Origin is once again sending its drone ship Jaclyn's return into the Atlantic Ocean, setting the stage for the booster's first attempted landing at sea. If everything goes well, NASA could soon gain a second independent heavy lift option, easing the current reliance on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, which for now is the only vehicle capable of sending the gateway modules to high lunar orbit. Successful landing data from this mission will be critical. It could speed up Blue Origin certification process for the HLS lunar program as all their future moon logistics will depend heavily on New Glenn's reusability. If things go smoothly, it might even move up the timeline for lunar cargo flights, possibly before 2028. The broader space community also stands to benefit. A proven sealanding system from Blue Origin would likely encourage smaller startups to experiment with similar recovery technologies, making the launch market more competitive and diverse. For Blue Origin, a successful flight would be a turning point, transforming its image from a follower into a real challenger to SpaceX. That could attract new defense contracts and balance out government preference, which has long leaned towards SpaceX. For SpaceX, on the other hand, this kind of competition isn't a bad thing. It would add pressure, but in a healthy way. Musk would have every reason to accelerate Starship Block 3 while fine-tuning Falcon 9 pricing to retain legacy customers. After all, no one can deny the unmatched reliability proven by hundreds of successful landings. But if the booster ends up crashing into the ocean, things will look very different. NASA would likely extend the evaluation phase, and SpaceX would enjoy a short-term advantage, keeping near total dominance in the heavy lift market for another 2 to 3 years. Customers would return to Falcon Heavy, reinforcing SpaceX's position as the true king of reusability. Either way, the outcome of this second New Glenn flight will shape the next phase of the private space race. A success means healthy competition and long-term benefits for NASA and the industry as a whole. A failure, well, that would only highlight just how far ahead SpaceX still is in terms of proven flight experience and technology. And speaking of challenges for SpaceX, the FAA has just issued a drastic new rule effective November 10th, 2025, banning all commercial space launches and re-entries during daytime hours from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. local time. Only civilian aviation will have priority. That means rockets can only fly between 1000 p.m. and 6 a.m., effectively cutting the daily launch window in half and hitting SpaceX the hardest. The decision stems from the ongoing US government shutdown which has caused severe staffing shortages within the FAA. Many air traffic controllers are either furled or working without pay leading to mounting fatigue and delays. The agency warned that the system is nearing its breaking point. Risk is increasing. Additional mitigation is necessary. To reduce pressure, the FAA chose to sacrifice spaceflight's daytime flexibility in favor of aviation safety. For SpaceX, the impact is immediate and painful. Out of 581 launches through November 6th, 57.6% of Falcon 9, 72.7% of Falcon Heavs, and 54.5% of Starships took off in daylight. For better visibility, safety, and logistics. Now, night launches complicate everything. Stage separations, booster landings, and real-time analysis all become riskier. Key missions like Starlink deployments, ISS resupply runs, and Starship test flights, usually scheduled for afternoon windows, will have to shift into darkness or face delays. This means engineers must switch to graveyard shifts, increasing fatigue and error risk. The annual cadence projected to exceed 170 launches could drop sharply, slowing down mega constellation growth and giving China room to catch up. Critics are calling the rule blunt and outdated. SpaceX already coordinates flawlessly with air traffic control. They argue instead of restricting launches, the FAA should be moving toward automated airspace systems, dedicated launch corridors, and streamlined licensing. America's leadership in space hangs in the balance. One rule born out of crisis now threatens to silence the daylight thunder of Falcon 9 and starships. The question is, will Washington act fast enough to bring back the light, or are we entering a darker era for US rocketry? Okay.