Blue Origin says they'll be back launching this year

Alright, who wants to conduct a poll, maybe keep track of people voting for the month of the next New Glenn flight? 

Let me back up a bit and add the story. 

Earlier today, commenter BillB linked to a post on X by Blue's CEO Dave Limp. Limp was rather optimistic about repairing the damage and concluded that most of what has to be repaired is fairly easy to work on and he concluded by saying he expects New Glenn will be back flying before the end of this year. 

Some LC-36 updates. Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility we can share a bit of good news. The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good. The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced. 

In keeping with the form they like, he concluded his post with, "We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter." Using what I interpret to be the Latin term I first learned about back in this February, translated as "Gradually, Ferociously" or possibly "Step by Step, Ferociously."

With this update, Limp addresses several things people have been talking about online. The more complex one was probably talk about the new version of New Glenn which has been talked about but not prototyped yet. The New Glenn that has flown is referred to as the 7x2 version and the new one is the 9x4 version. In both cases, the first number is the number of engines in the first stage while the second is the number of engines in the second stage. There must be more hardware changes to use those additional engines or else they couldn't get fuel to run on, and while I haven't seen it actually reported on, I would expect that the new versions will probably have bigger fuel tanks and may also be larger diameter or taller or both. 

The Internet and social media types jumped to suggesting they should just go to the 9x4. Limp said not now, they're staying with the 7x2.

While the launch tower that's still standing can be repaired on site without taking it down, the other must be rebuilt. The New Glenn to be launched has been transported to the launch complex by a massive transporter-erector, and Limp had said Blue Origin had already planned to replace that. That has become a higher priority now, but it makes more sense to build the new one now rather than spend a lot of time and money getting the old design rebuilt, use it for one or two missions and then go to the new one. 

The most important part of all this has yet to be mentioned. Can Blue fly before the end of this year? My inclination is to say I seriously doubt it. During the visit to the company last Friday that provided that photo of him in yesterday's post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told CEO Limp and Blue's founder Jeff Bezos that he is “all in” on supporting the company’s efforts. So, too, is the US Space Force, which manages the launch range at Cape Canaveral. 

A six-month timeline to return to flight is very optimistic. The LC-36A site will need serious rework, from its concrete foundation on up. Some of these materials require fairly long lead times, and it’s not clear that the company has the personnel needed—particularly the touch-labor technicians, welders, and others who build this specialized launch hardware. Historically, Blue Origin has not operated in such a rushed manner, either. 

This is a risky move for Blue Origin, NASA, and everyone associated with the Artemis program to start establishing a permanent presence on the moon. Others, more familiar with this kind of work than I am say a more realistic timeline for Blue Origin to rebuild its pad and launch from there is 12 to 18 months. That's simply too long to tolerate. It's an engraved invitation to SpaceX to get their version of the HLS on the moon, ASAP.

The LC-36 on CCSFS (Image credit: SpaceFromSpace / © 2026 Planet Labs PBC)