According to a Bloomberg report, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp stated at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 17 that the company had begun rebuilding its Florida launch pad the previous day, and that the New Glenn rocket will resume launches this year. It was at this same launch pad that a serious explosion occurred last month, an explosion so powerful it generated seismic waves. Founder Jeff Bezos acknowledged at the same conference, “It was a tough moment, a heavy blow to the entire team.” But he also revealed that the propellant tanks and a booster inside the integration facility were not damaged in the explosion, preserving the possibility of a return to flight this year.
The New Glenn rocket is the core of Blue Origin’s space exploration strategy, but it has already fallen years behind its original schedule, and the wait between launches has been much longer than expected. The rocket is set to play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program to return to the moon — NASA has awarded Blue Origin a lunar lander contract to deliver a rover to the lunar surface. Limp’s public commitment in Paris to a return-to-flight timeline this year marks the first time Blue Origin has publicly pledged a reconstruction schedule since the explosion.