CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin says its New Glenn rocket is expected to return to flight by the end of the year after a significant anomaly during a hotfire test at Launch Complex 36 in Florida.
The company released an update Tuesday from CEO Dave Limp, who said Blue Origin is still investigating what caused the May 28 anomaly during a New Glenn Integrated Launch Vehicle hotfire test.
Limp said early analysis points to the aft section of the first stage.
“The vehicle is highly instrumented with extensive data from multiple camera angles and sensors, giving us confidence in our ability to identify and correct the root cause,” Limp said.
According to Limp, Blue Origin lost the lightning tower, transporter-erector and hydraulic cylinders in the incident.
However, he said the tank farm, Integration Facility, vehicle access tower and water tower remain in good shape.
Hardware recovery and debris removal operations are complete, and reconstruction of the pad has started, according to the company.
Blue Origin said it does not plan to rebuild the same pad configuration. Instead, the company said it will move to a horizontal and vertical hybrid launch operations plan that had already been in development for its future New Glenn launch vehicle.
The updated process will use existing infrastructure and avoid building a new transporter-erector, according to Limp.
Blue Origin said the new approach will allow parts of the rocket to be mated horizontally before the vehicle is rolled to the pad. A crane will then lift the rocket onto a refurbished launch table before the payload is added.
The company said the approach is designed to create more operational flexibility across launch pads.
“We take our responsibility as a launch provider very seriously, and we are committed to returning to flight with the reliability our mission demands,” Limp said.
Blue Origin said site recovery and cleanup are complete. Major repairs and launch operations redesign work are still in progress.
The company said it continues to build vehicles and maintain flight readiness while preparing for a return to flight.
“Our road to space doesn’t pause here,” Limp said. “We will return to flight by the end of this year.”
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