Blue Origin says New Glenn rocket will launch again 'before the end of the year' after explosion

After its rocket explosion, Blue Origin wants to complete repairs and put another New Glenn on the launchpad before the end of 2026, according to CEO Dave Limp. That's very ambitious. The company's New Glenn rocket stood at Launch Complex-36 (LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station last Thursday (May 28) for a static hot fire test ahead of the vehicle's fourth launch. Blue Origin has yet to complete an investigation into the incident, but whatever the cause, New Glenn exploded on the launchpad in an enormous fireball visible for more than a hundred miles, destroying the launch vehicle and spreading damage across LC-36 and the surrounding vegetation. Now that the smoke has settled, Limp has shed some light on the extent of that damage, and thinks the company can have New Glenn ready for launch before the end of the year. "before the end of this year," he said in a post on X , which ended with the phrase, "Gradatim Ferociter," the company's motto that means "step by step, ferociously." Limp said that amongst the ruins of LC-36, which can be seen from space , there was still some promising news to share. In addition to the facility's water tower, "the propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG (liquid nitrogen) tanks are all in good shape," he said. But the pad didn't survive unscathed. …