Blue Origin pushes launch to January 2027 as it races to rebuild damaged launch pad
CEO Dave Limp said the company has moved swiftly to repair a launchpad that was damaged by the New Glenn explosion in May, but the work hasn't been easy.
Key points
- Blue Origin has pushed New Glenn's return to flight to January 2027 after a May explosion damaged its Florida launch pad.
- CEO Dave Limp said reconstruction delays, including bad summer weather, caused the slip from the earlier target.
- The delay affects Amazon's Leo satellite launches and Blue Origin's effort to compete with SpaceX.
Blue Origin has delayed the return to flight of its New Glenn rocket to January 2027, later than its earlier target of the end of this year, following a major explosion in May. CEO Dave Limp told employees in a memo Wednesday that the schedule slipped because of delays in reconstructing the company's Cape Canaveral launch pad, including bad weather over the summer.
The January 2027 timeframe is about 10 days later than Blue Origin's earlier launch target, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. The Financial Times earlier reported the memo.
What the CEO said
Limp said Blue Origin has made great progress on the recovery but noted that "rebuilding at this pace hasn't been easy." He wrote that returning New Glenn to flight remains the company's top priority and that the adjustment does not diminish what has been accomplished.
He also said that in six months the team had accomplished what many thought would take years. Last month, Jeff Bezos told Fox News the company still expected New Glenn to fly again in December.
This small adjustment doesn't diminish what we've accomplished or the importance of the work still ahead
— Dave Limp
Impact on launches
The May explosion occurred during a hot-fire test and badly damaged the Florida launchpad. Blue Origin had been slated to deploy 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo internet-from-space service just a few days later.
The delays have hampered Amazon's Leo constellation buildout, for which it relies on Blue Origin for a portion of its launches. Blue Origin is working to increase its launch cadence to compete with SpaceX for commercial and government customers, and NASA has tapped the company for several Artemis contracts, including a lunar lander.
