Blue Origin Recovering After Explosion: New Glenn Preparing for Flight by Year-End

Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has begun active work to eliminate the consequences of the New Glenn rocket explosion on May 28 and restore flights. Although the incident at the LC-36 launch complex at Cape Canaveral was a serious test for the company's plans, management has not abandoned its intention to carry out the first space flights by the end of the year. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports says.

At the VivaTech conference in Paris, Jeff Bezos and CEO Dave Limp provided details about the incident and future plans. According to them, the explosion caused serious damage to the launch pad: specifically, the lightning protection tower collapsed and the transporter-erector used to bring the rocket to a vertical position was completely destroyed. According to ixbt.com, cleanup operations at the site have already been completed and the reconstruction process has begun.

Despite the scale of the destruction, Blue Origin management emphasizes that the situation could have been worse. The most critical parts of the launch pad, including fuel tanks and primary ground equipment, were not damaged. Currently, more than 400 pieces of specialized construction equipment are working on-site, indicating a high pace of recovery.

Technical Changes and Safety Measures

So far, Blue Origin has not disclosed the exact causes of the explosion, but experts speculate that certain changes will be made to the rocket's design and ground infrastructure. According to Dave Limp, a new scheme for placing the rocket on the launch table may be used in the future. This would reduce the risk of losing the expensive transporter-erector in potential future accidents.

Despite this unfortunate incident, the company's order book remains substantial. Blue Origin continues its cooperation with NASA within the Artemis moon program and is working on the development of the Blue Moon lander. Additionally, the company continues testing its BE-7 engine. In a recent test, this engine operated continuously for 41 minutes, which is a record for aggregates in its class.

Experts believe that a successful flight of the New Glenn rocket will allow Blue Origin to compete with rivals like SpaceX. This heavy-lift rocket is expected to carry not only commercial satellites but also critical payloads related to humanity's return to the Moon. Currently, space industry representatives worldwide are closely watching whether the company can achieve the promised launch by the end of the year.