Update on Blue Origin’s effort to resume New Glenn launches
Link here. The article provides a good summary of the company’s impressive effort to dismantle and then rebuild the launchpad, largely destroyed when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the pad on May 28, 2026.
However, the article had no further information on the company’s investigation into the cause of the explosion itself, or what fixes it is instituting to prevent it from reoccurring.
What actually caused the explosion is still unclear. [David] Limp [Blue Origin’s CEO] has only said early analysis points toward the aft section of the first stage, with the full investigation still open. Company leadership hasn’t wavered from the end-of-2026 target, though some outside observers have called that timeline ambitious given how long comparable pad rebuilds have historically taken. NASA has been notably patient about it. Administrator Jared Isaacman called the recovery progress “almost beyond impressive.”
The company’s silence on this issue could simply be its normal reticence. Blue Origin has never been transparent when it has had this kind of technical issue. It said nothing for years about the problems with its BE-4 engine, and in fact, details were only revealed when the then-CEO of ULA described them.
A worse possibility for the silence could be that Blue Origin has been unable to pinpoint the problem. If so, then a launch of New Glenn before the end of the year becomes less likely.
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Because you cannot hate the USAF enough
https://spacenews.com/u-s-air-force-expands-blue-origin-rocket-cargo-contract/
They done for the ABMA, impose toxic Titans and segmented solids upon American Spaceflight after killing the Saturns by proxy, try to kill SD-HLLVs and SpaceX both to prop up EELVs…prop up underperforming Vulcan—and now this.
The USAF needs to be abolished, its budget going to Space Force—with pilots remanded to the Army Air Corps where they belong.
Jeff, could you make reading comment sections less tedious by not bringjng your oft-repeated grievances so often?
It’s not an outrage that the USAF is interested in point to point rocket cargo, that they gave Blue money, and this topic isn’t about the USAF anyway.
Jeff Wright has begun posting off topic links in numerous past BtB posts. I am deleting them now routinely.
The quick links thread is available most days where off topic stuff can be posted, though I request posters to limit the number of links they post to only two from any one source. Jeff Wright repeatedly breaks these rules.
I do not wish to ban him, because his comments do generate worthwhile discussion, mostly to note his mistakes. I am getting close to doing so however.
With how different Limp has been from his predecessor it’s hard to say if they’re really just being quiet or not. Two years ago I’d have just said yes, it’s Blue being Blue and keeping mum because that’s what they do.