CEO Dave Limp said damage to the company’s launchpad in Florida was not as bad as expected. But Blue Origin still hasn’t shared the cause of last week’s explosion.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is gone, its only launchpad is potentially unsalvageable, and the company has no confirmed timeline for returning to flight.
The explosion is likely a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company, and its attempt to compete with SpaceX.
Jeff Bezos’ rocket company confirmed an engine failure led to the loss of an AST SpaceMobile satellite last month, but offered little detail.
The New Glenn rocket will have to stay grounded while the company investigates what caused the apparent failure of its upper stage.
It’s a major milestone for the company’s new mega-rocket system, putting it in position to challenge SpaceX’s dominance of the global launch market.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had previously suggested that the third launch of the mega-rocket would take the space company’s robotic lunar lander to the moon.