{"id":735983,"date":"2026-07-01T01:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/735983\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T01:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:55:12","slug":"blue-origin-outlines-return-to-flight-logistics-for-its-new-glenn-rockets-spaceflight-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/735983\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin outlines return to flight logistics for its New Glenn rockets \u2013 Spaceflight Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"An artist\u2019s interpretation of the redesigned Launch Complex 36A that supports a hybrid horizontal-vertical integration process for Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rockets. Graphic: Blue Origin<\/p>\n

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\u2019s plan for resuming pad operations later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue\u00a0to\u00a0actively\u00a0investigate\u00a0the cause of the anomaly.\u00a0The vehicle is highly instrumented with extensive data from multiple camera angles and sensors,\u00a0giving us\u00a0confidence\u00a0in our ability to\u00a0identify\u00a0and correct the root cause,\u201d Limp wrote. \u201cEarly analysis points to the aft section of the first stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spaceflight Now reached out to Blue Origin to inquire into whether this description indicated an issue with one or more of the Blue Origin-built BE-4 engines on the first stage. A response wasn\u2019t provided prior to publication.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

A couple days prior on June 28, Limp shared a short video to social media that showed the assembly of a large crane that will be used for the disassembly of the vehicle access tower that was left standing following the explosion, but was damaged. A few days before that, Limp noted that \u201cwreckage recovery from start to finish was completed in nine days and all debris has been cleared from Launch Complex 36.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rocket was slated to launch the company\u2019s first Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander, named Endurance, to the Moon as soon as late summer. It will carry some NASA science payloads onboard and was designated Moon Base 1 during an agency event on May 26.<\/p>\n

But the damage to the pad and the mishap investigation are pushing that timeline to early 2027, according to Limp.<\/p>\n

During the second Moon Base event on Tuesday, Carlos Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n, NASA\u2019s Moon Base Program Executive, said the agency was \u201cworking with Blue Origin very closely to understand their timelines to recovery and also looking at all our options in case it doesn\u2019t meet our timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re paying a lot of attention, again, putting the entire NASA capability at the service of making this vendor successful,\u201d Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artist\u2019s rendering of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander on the surface of the Moon. Graphic: Blue Origin<\/p>\n

He explained that for the NASA-led Moon Base, the agency wants multiple landers available for\u00a0 the program to keep a flow of infrastructure heading to the lunar surface to bolster learning for future, permanent infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been focused on helping Blue Origin with the determination of the root cause, we will help with building the infrastructure, but then we\u2019re looking at options, like can we fly the Mark 1 lander \u2014 which is in tact and was not associated with the anomaly \u2014 can we fly that on a different rocket or then we\u2019ll look at all the options for the payloads, depending on the timeline of the rocket getting back,\u201d Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

Sitting beside Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman added to that by stating that Blue Origin was \u201cvery committed\u201d to resuming launches by the end of calendar year 2026. He said their recovery progress so far was \u201calmost beyond impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got time beyond that point, into 2027, before we\u2019re getting nervous,\u201d Isaacman said.<\/p>\n

Concerning the path to launching the Blue Moon Mk.1 landers, he added, \u201cPlan A was always New Glenn and Plan A is looking a lot better today than it was weeks ago, just based on the progress that the Blue Origin team is making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond its first Blue Moon Mk.1 demonstration mission funded by Blue Origin, the cargo lander is also relying on New Glenn to launch NASA\u2019s VIPER mission as well as lunar terrain vehicles developed by Lunar Outpost and Astrolab. The Blue Moon Mk.2 will be used on future crewed missions as part of the Artemis Program.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Moving to a hybrid model<\/p>\n

As part of the company\u2019s effort to return to flight before the end of the calendar year, Limp said Blue Origin would shift from an entirely horizontal integration model that relied on the now destroyed transporter-erector to one that utilizes some vertical integration elements as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0going straight to a horizontal\/vertical hybrid\u00a0CONOPS\u00a0we had already been developing for our 9\u00d74 New Glenn launch vehicle, using existing infrastructure, skipping a new transporter-erector, and creating a common CONOPS across\u00a0two pads,\u201d Limp wrote.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artist\u2019s interpretation of the redesigned Launch Complex 36A that supports a hybrid horizontal-vertical integration process for Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rockets. Graphic: Blue Origin<\/p>\n

In a break down on its website, Blue Origin said for future New Glenn launches, it would integrate the first and second stages inside the horizontal integration facility adjacent to LC-36A. It would then be transported to the pad where a crane would hoist the rocket into a vertical orientation.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin said this is \u201cthe reverse of the operation already used to offload the booster from Jacklyn.\u201d The rocket is then placed \u201conto a refurbished launch table,\u00a0where it mates to the launch vehicle hold-down ring.\u00a0Umbilical connections are made between the\u202fmain tower and the rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renderings and an animation show that a platform fits around the upper part of the Glenn Stage 2 (GS2) upper stage as teams prepare the payload inside the fairing to be transported to the pad. That is then hoisted onto the rocket by the same crane the lifted the rocket.<\/p>\n

The crane is cleared from the pad prior to a launch attempt. While not stated explicitly in the update, the crane may also be cleared from the pad prior to a static fire test of the booster.<\/p>\n

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