NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Blue Origin has devoted significant resources to cleaning up and rebuilding its launch pad after a late-May explosion of a New Glenn rocket, as the agency weighs how the setback could affect lunar missions tied to the Artemis program.
Isaacman Praises Blue Origin Recovery Work
"Blue Origin's response to the situation is almost beyond impressive, and that's not just a NASA assessment," Isaacman told reporters Wednesday afternoon, according to Ars Technica. He said U.S. Space Force officials also have been deeply involved in Blue Origin's planning since the May 28 test anomaly damaged New Glenn's only operational launch pad.
NASA has a major stake in Blue Origin's return to flight. The agency is counting on the company's Mk. 1 lunar lander to carry cargo missions to the moon and its larger Mk. 2 lander to eventually ferry astronauts to the lunar surface. New Glenn was expected to play a central role in launching both vehicles.
Before the accident, Blue Origin hoped to launch its first Mk. 1 mission, called Endurance, later this year for a cargo landing on the moon. NASA has said Endurance will carry two agency science and technology payloads to the lunar south pole region after the lander cleared a key space-simulation test at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
New Glenn Still Remains Plan A
Blue Origin officials, including CEO Dave Limp, said on Tuesday that the company is working to rebuild Launch Complex 36A, complete its anomaly investigation and launch New Glenn again before the end of the year. Independent observers have suggested a 12- to 18-month recovery may be more realistic.
"They're making great progress," Isaacman said. "So plan A is very much still to launch the Mk. 1 on New Glenn. They are very committed to getting back in the business of launching New Glenn before the end of the year. 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."
Still, Isaacman said NASA must study alternatives for Endurance and for Blue Origin's Artemis III lander work. Options include SpaceX's (NASDAQ: SPCX) Falcon Heavy and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rockets. Isaacman said he receives daily updates and suggested NASA has time into 2027 before major concerns set in, but a delay to mid-2027 would raise concerns for Artemis III and uncrewed landers.
Blue Origin Plans Crane-Based Relaunch
Limp said Blue Origin continues to investigate the anomaly. "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," he wrote. "Early analysis points to the aft section of the first stage."
The blast destroyed the lightning tower and massive transporter-erector that moved and raised New Glenn. To speed the return, Limp said Blue Origin will not rebuild the same pad or construct a new transporter-erector. Instead, engineers plan to use a crane to lift the integrated stages onto the launch mount before adding the payload fairing.