Blue Origin rocket launch LIVE – Jeff Bezos' spacecraft set to takeoff tomorrow after Pete Davidson pulled out of trip

BLUE Origin's latest launch is set to take place tomorrow morning after it was forced to delay the mission earlier this week.

The US company, which is the brainchild of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, delayed the fourth crewed flight of its New Shepard vehicle to Thursday, March 31.

Blue Origin's launch is scheduled to take place Thursday at 9.30am ET (14.30 BST; 8.30am local time in Texas).

The mission was initially set for March 23 with a crew of six including comedian Pete Davidson.

Davidson, who is currently dating Kim Kardashian, had to pull out of the flight after the date was pushed back.

The space squad on board is now made up of Party America CEO Marty Allen, husband and wife Sharon and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, Blue Origin's Gary Lai, and Dr George Nield, who is president of Commercial Space Technologies.

Read our Blue Origin launch live blog for the latest news and updates…

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Pete Davidson announcement

    The Blue Origin Twitter account announced that Pete Davidson would no longer be part of the launch as planned.

    "Blue Origin's 20th flight of New Shepard has shifted to Tuesday, March 29. Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission," the account tweeted on March 17.

    "We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days."

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Pete Davidson pulls out of Blue Origin space flight

    Pete Davidson was supposed to be on this week's Blue Origin space flight.

    Blue Origin recently officially announced he can "no longer" join the flight.

    It was earlier reported that Davidson would launch from Blue Origin's facility in West Texas in a launch now scheduled for March 31.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Three times the speed of sound

    Suborbital flights for Blue Origin's vehicle, the New Shepard, hit about three times the speed of sound – roughly 2,300 mph – on trips to the edge of space, an altitude roughly 60 miles (100 km) above Earth's surface.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Postcards in space

    The Blue Origin Twitter account shared sweet photos of the New Shepard crew creating postcards ahead of the launch to bring into space.

    "The #NS20 crew created their personal postcards to take to space. Looking forward to getting them stamped 'Flown In Space,'" the tweet read.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Will the launch be delayed again?

    Thanks to a possible geomagnetic storm the same day as the scheduled launch, there is a chance Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle launch could be delayed even further.

    A Blue Origin spokesperson told The Sun: "Blue Origin’s mission control team tracks all weather conditions for launch and will only give the go to proceed if the conditions are safe to do so."

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Geomagnetic storm possible, part four

    The storm is expected to rattle Earth's magnetic field from late on Wednesday into the early hours of Thursday.

    Blue Origin's launch is scheduled to take place Thursday at 9.30am EDT (14.30 BST; 8.30am local time in Texas).

    If the geomagnetic activity poses any risk to the crew, it's likely the flight will be delayed even further.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Geomagnetic storm possible, part three

    If Blue Origin's launch coincides with the storm, crew members could be exposed to dangerous levels of solar radiation.

    It's possible that New Shepard's navigation technology could also be affected, though the impact is unlikely to be significant given that the storm is rated G2, meaning it's considered "moderate" by the NOAA.

    Last month, a similarly rated storm knocked 40 SpaceX satellites out of orbit not long after they lifted off from Earth.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Geomagnetic storm possible, continued

    The resulting impact on our planet's magnetic field could spell trouble for astronauts, including passengers on Blue Origin's flight.

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, G2-category geomagnetic storms such as the one expected on Thursday can cause "increased biological risk to astronauts or passengers and crew in high latitude, high altitude flights."

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Geomagnetic storm possible

    According to space weather experts, a geomagnetic storm is possible on Thursday following an eruption of hot material from the Sun — on the same day as Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle launch.

    Data from Nasa's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows that a volley of radiation known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is headed for Earth.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Why was the launch delayed?

    Blue Origin cited predicted high winds at the firm's West Texas launch site over the next couple of days for the delay.

    "Weather is the only remaining factor to get to launch," Blue Origin wrote on Twitter on Monday.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Rocket launch delayed

    Blue Origin pushed back its next launch to Thursday.

    It was originally scheduled for March 29.

    It will now take to the skies on March 31 instead.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    Who will be on the rocket?

    The rocket squad of six includes Party America CEO Marty Allen, husband and wife Sharon and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, Blue Origin's Gary Lai, and Dr George Nield, who is president of Commercial Space Technologies.

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    What time will Blue Origin launch?

    Blue Origin's launch is scheduled to take place on Thursday at 9.30am ET (14.30 BST; 8.30am local time in Texas).

  • Josie Rhodes Cook

    When is Blue Origin launching?

    Blue Origin is scheduled to launch tomorrow morning.

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