Blue Origin has insisted it will launch its New Glenn rocket again before the end of the year, despite a catastrophic explosion on the launchpad in May that destroyed the vehicle and caused extensive damage. The company's chief executive, Dave Limp, posted on X on 1 June: 'We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter' – Latin for 'Step by step, ferociously'.
The blast at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36A was visible more than 100 miles away and was initially seen as a major setback for Nasa's Artemis moon programme. Just two days earlier, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman had announced Blue Origin had won a contract to launch the first of three construction missions for the agency's $20bn moon base project.
Speaking at a Nasa event in Houston this week, Blue Origin's senior vice-president of lunar permanence, John Couluris, acknowledged the 'significant anomaly' but said progress on the investigation and pad cleanup was excellent. Isaacman has promised a 'whole government response' to help Blue Origin recover, including deploying Nasa subject matter experts to identify the root cause and rebuild the pad.
The urgency stems from the Artemis III mission, planned for late 2027, which will test Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander alongside SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System. Blue Moon is designed to fly only on New Glenn, and Nasa is reportedly urging Blue Origin to consider reconfiguring the lander for a different rocket, such as SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, to keep options open.
Isaacman said the explosion was 'a setback that happens in this business' but emphasised that Nasa was 'laser-focused' on the lander's development. He added that the agency was 'decoupling' Blue Moon from both the rocket and the launchpad to ensure it remains available for the 2027 test mission and potentially for the 2028 landing objectives.
