his screen grab shows fire as the uncrewed Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes during a test on a launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 28. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket unleashed a massive fireball into the sky as it exploded during a test on May 28, in the latest blow to billionaire Jeff Bezos's space ambitions. AFP PHOTO / NASASpaceflight.com
Blue Origin will return its New Glenn rocket to flight before the year ends, CEO Dave Limp said late on Monday, days after one of the rockets exploded, damaging the company's launch pad and tightening a U.S. launch bottleneck for satellite companies.
Blue Origin staff has inspected damage to the company's only launch pad, and the company has not said what may have caused the explosion on Thursday.
Limp said key fuel tanks at the pad "are all in good shape," calling it "good luck" because replacing those assets if damaged would take a long time. Nearby rocket boosters on deck for future flights "also look good," he said, but the pad's main support tower needs repair.
The New Glenn explosion, though no satellites were onboard and no one was injured, was one of Blue Origin's most dire failures since its founding in 2000, besetting both its centerpiece rocket and the sole launch pad it blasts off from.
