Blue Origin pivots to redesigned launchpad after New Glenn explosion
Damage to the launch pad area following the explosion of an uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket during a test at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 29, 2026.
Joe Captain | Reuters
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said the company is “not rebuilding the same pad” where one of its New Glenn rockets recently exploded to make room for a return to flight this year.
initiated by the company Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was conducting a hot-fire test of the massive New Glenn rocket at the launch site in Florida on May 28 when the plane exploded into a fireball. New Glenn is a key part of Blue Origin’s effort to compete with Elon Musk SpaceXA.Ş., which broke new ground with reusable rockets and launch services.
In a note posted on Blue Origin’s website, Limp said the company plans to adopt a “horizontal/vertical hybrid” launch configuration, using existing infrastructure currently under development for the larger, more powerful New Glenn variant called “9×4.”
“We take our responsibility as a launch provider very seriously and are committed to returning to flight with the reliability our mission requires,” Limp wrote.
Limp wrote: a post on x the new pad configuration “has the added benefit of increasing our flight rhythm.”
Blue Origin’s New Glenn crash was inappropriately timed. Blue Origin is a critical partner in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon. The agency tapped Blue Origin to launch an uncrewed Blue Moon lander atop New Glenn later this year.
Companies involved Amazon And AST Space Mobile They also rely on Blue Origin for rocket launch capacity to carry internet satellites into orbit. The explosion in May occurred just days before Blue Origin was set to launch a series of Amazon Leo satellites.
Satellite internet services in low Earth orbit have improved greatly in recent years, but this growth has been limited by a lack of rocket launch supplies. Blue Origin had emerged as a potential heavy-lift rocket alternative to SpaceX, with New Glenn having a larger payload capacity.
Limp said Blue Origin continues to “actively investigate” the cause of the May launch anomaly. He added that initial results suggest the “rear portion of the first stage” of the rocket may have been responsible.
Reconstruction of the damaged launch pad is ongoing, and the company has determined that the lightning rod tower, carrier-installer, and hydraulic cylinders have been lost.
“But we have also had many opportunities and we aim to make the most of them,” Limp said.
