Blue Origin Outlines New Launch Pad Approach as It Pushes to Return New Glenn to Flight
Blue Origin will use a hybrid launch concept on two pads after the blast destroyed key equipment and the FAA halted New Glenn flights.
- One month after a New Glenn rocket explosion damaged its Florida launch pad, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp announced today a shift to a hybrid horizontal/vertical launch configuration to accelerate the return to flight.
- The May 28 explosion at Launch Complex 36A destroyed the lightning tower and transporter-erector, forcing the company to abandon plans to rebuild the pad exactly as it was. This destruction prompted the operational shift.
- Refurbishing the site with a crane rather than a transporter-erector allows increased flight cadence at Cape Canaveral. Limp noted the new design creates "a common ConOps across two pads" for both existing and future launch facilities.
- Despite the launchpad accident, NASA continues to view the rocket as "plan A" for upcoming lunar missions. Space agency chief Jared Isaacman cited the company's "great progress" in recovery efforts since the setback.
- These recovery efforts support the Artemis III mission scheduled for next year, which relies on the heavy-lift vehicle to transport astronauts and equipment to the lunar surface within six years.
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18 Articles
Blue Origin: Here's How We'll Return New Glenn to Flight Faster Than Expected
Following May's launchpad explosion, Blue Origin plans a simpler launch infrastructure, but it will still require the company to work at an unprecedented pace if it wants to fly again in 2026.
Blue Origin outlines new launch pad approach as it pushes to return New Glenn to flight
A month after a devastating pad explosion, Blue Origin reiterated plans to return its New Glenn vehicle to flight from a rebuilt launch pad by the end of the year. The post Blue Origin outlines new launch pad approach as it pushes to return New Glenn to flight appeared first on SpaceNews.
Blue Origin still ‘plan A’ for next Nasa mission despite rocket explosion
The space agency says the company founded by the billionaire Amazon businessman has made ‘great progress’ since the May setback.
Blue Origin outlines return to flight logistics for its New Glenn rockets
An artist’s interpretation of the redesigned Launch Complex 36A that supports a hybrid horizontal-vertical integration process for Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets. Graphic: Blue Origin Blue Origin continues to analyze the explosion of its New Glenn rocket a little more than a month ago, but on Tuesday, CEO Dave Limp shared the company’s plan for resuming pad operations later this year. “We continue to actively investigate the cause of the anomal…
Blue Origin says early data points to first-stage issue in rocket explosion
Blue Origin says early findings from its investigation into the May 28 New Glenn launch pad explosion point to a problem in the rocket's first stage as the company works toward returning to flight by the end of the year.

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