Jeff Bezos’ area firm Blue Origin is doubling down on utilizing its New Glenn mega-rocket once more this 12 months after final month’s explosion. However the firm nonetheless doesn’t know why that explosion occurred within the first place.
In his most detailed public assertion in regards to the explosion but, CEO Dave Limp wrote on Blue Origin’s web site on Tuesday that his firm continues to be attempting to “determine and proper the basis trigger” of the explosion. “Early evaluation factors to the aft part of the primary stage” of the rocket, Limp wrote, saying the corporate is pulling on “intensive knowledge from a number of digicam angles and sensors.”
After spending greater than a decade to slowly and intentionally develop New Glenn, Blue Origin had been transferring rapidly with the brand new rocket. Its first launch was in January 2025, and New Glenn was getting ready to fly for the fourth time when it exploded during testing on May 28 this 12 months. (No one was damage within the explosion.)
Blue Origin desires to return the rocket to flight as rapidly as it will possibly as a result of the corporate has grow to be one of many central gamers in NASA’s push to return people to the moon earlier than President Trump leaves workplace.
To take action, Blue Origin won’t solely want to find out and repair what brought on the explosion final month, it might want to rebuild the corporate’s launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as it’s at present the corporate’s solely launch pad that may assist the huge rocket.
In his submit, Limp praised Blue Origin’s staff for making fast progress on this entrance.
The corporate misplaced a lightning tower within the explosion, in addition to the massive piece of kit that strikes New Glenn to the launchpad and stands it up (often called the transporter-erector). Close by buildings on the location have been broken within the blast, too. Nonetheless, Limp wrote that the corporate “caught a whole lot of breaks, too, and intend to profit from them.”
A few of these breaks embrace the truth that the on-site water tower, fuel tanks, and rocket integration facility are “in fine condition.”
Limp shared extra particulars about how Blue Origin will change its present launch complicated in Cape Canaveral. The corporate is taking out the transporter-erector concept, and can as an alternative use a large crane to face New Glenn up on the launch pad earlier than flights.
In addition to permitting Blue Origin to return to flight before anticipated, this method would improve New Glenn’s flight cadence, in response to Limp. Blue Origin was planning as many as 12 launches this 12 months earlier than the Could explosion.
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