LOS ANGELES, June 2 — The launchpad damaged in the recent explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket during an engine hot-fire test may not be restored until 2028, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Monday.
The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday (0100 GMT on Friday) at Launch Complex 36, located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The facility is currently the only operational launchpad capable of supporting Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.
In an interview with CNBC, Isaacman said a 2028 timeframe was “within the realm” of a possible recovery for the damaged launchpad.
“We’re all getting organized generally around the idea that we certainly want to see Blue Origin be very successful,” Isaacman said. “So recovering, getting the pad recovered, providing subject matter expertise, root cause analysis for sure.
Let’s figure out what’s broken, and then we got to keep moving forward.”
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said on social media platform X that the company has regained limited access to Launch Complex 36 and is actively investigating the anomaly that occurred during the hot-fire test.
“We will start clearing the pad soon and have a good rebuild plan in place,” Limp said.
The explosion could delay future New Glenn missions and may affect the schedule of some NASA lunar exploration missions, as Blue Origin is a key commercial partner in the agency’s Artemis moon program. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
