Blue Origin pushes launch to January 2027 as it races to rebuild damaged launch pad - CNBC
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has delayed a return to flight for its New Glenn rocket to January 2027, later than its earlier target of the end of this year, as it rushes to recover from a major explosion in May.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp told employees in a memo Wednesday that the company's launch timing slipped as a result of delays with reconstructing its Cape Canaveral launch pad, including bad weather over the summer.
"This small adjustment doesn't diminish what we've accomplished or the importance of the work still ahead," Limp wrote in the memo, which was viewed by CNBC. "Returning New Glenn to flight remains our top priority β it's worth it."
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The Financial Times earlier reported the memo. The January 2027 timeframe is about 10 days later than Blue Origin's earlier launch target, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
One of Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rockets erupted into a fireball during a hot-fire test in May, days before it was slated to deploy 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo internet-from-space service. Since then, the company has moved swiftly to repair the launch facility and reworked its pad configuration.
Bezos told Fox News last month that the company was still expecting New Glenn to fly again in December.
Blue Origin is working to ramp up its launch cadence significantly as it vies to compete with its chief rival, Elon Musk's SpaceX, for commercial and government customers. The company announced new investments in its Florida launch facilities last month with the goal of supporting multiple flights per week by the end of the decade.
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