Blue Origin to relaunch New Glenn by 2026 despite explosion
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos's space company, plans to relaunch its New Glenn rocket by the end of 2026, even after a big explosion during testing last week at Cape Canaveral.
CEO Dave Limp said more of the launchpad's infrastructure was in "good shape" than expected, and that a previously flown booster plus three upper stages "also look good."
Blue Origin has not yet said what caused the explosion, and stands out as one of Blue Origin's toughest setbacks so far.
Dave Limp says no bigger rocket
The explosion happened during testing at Cape Canaveral, while Blue Origin was preparing for a future New Glenn launch.
While SpaceX bounced back quickly from a similar mishap in 2016, Blue Origin is still building its second launch pad and dealing with past booster and payload issues since early 2025.
Limp says they're not switching to a bigger rocket, but instead making changes to how rockets are handled at the launch site to boost safety and reliability going forward.