After the rocket explosion, Blue Origin is switching to the next generation launch concept – GeekWire
A month after the New Glenn rocket explosion damaged the Florida launch site, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has decided to focus on a new concept for future launches.
“To get back into flight this year, we’re rebuilding the same pad,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in an online update. Instead, the company will continue with the plan it was already working on to launch Complex 36 of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Concept of operations, or ConOps in rocket parlance, requires a hybrid horizontal/vertical configuration of launch preparations. Blue Origin had already planned to use a hybrid second pad system currently under development for its large-sized 9×4 New Glenn rocket. Now the system will be used for both the old pad and the new one, “creating common ConOps across both pads,” Limp said.
In a post to X, Limp said the program “has the added benefit of increasing the quality of our aircraft.”
The May 28 explosion, which occurred as Blue Origin was preparing its new Glenn rocket to launch 48 satellites into the Amazon Leo constellation, had a major impact on Blue Origin’s launch plans. The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended the launch until Blue Origin traces the cause of the explosion and takes corrective action.
In today’s update, Limp said “preliminary analysis points to the rear part of the first stage” as the source of the anomaly. He expressed confidence that the root cause would be found and fixed.
He said the explosion destroyed the pad’s lightning, transporter-erector and hydraulic cylinders, “but we’ve caught a lot of breaks, and we intend to make the most of them.”
Limp reported that the Integration Facility’s launch pad, tank farm, vehicle access tower and water tower were all in good condition, and that reconstruction of the pad had begun. Blue Origin removed the three upper stages of the New Glenn and a double-flying booster called “Never Tell Me Problems” outside the Integration Facility as part of the pad cleaning process, he said.
Blue Origin’s launch manifesto includes missions aimed at sending the inactive Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to the lunar surface, placing the more advanced Mark 2 lander in Earth orbit for crew testing during NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, and bringing several rovers to the moon. New Glenn is also slated to launch the Amazon Leo and AST SpaceMobile satellites.
Limp said Blue Origin “continues to build high-quality vehicles in our world-class manufacturing facilities, maintains flight readiness, and prepares to come back stronger than ever.”
“Our road to space does not stop here, we will return to fly at the end of this year,” he wrote. “It’s worth it.”
