TITUSVILLE, FL – Blue Origin announced the space company is now building a second New Glenn launch pad at Space Launch Complex 36 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to a press release issued today, Aug 12
The announcement of construction of Launch Complex 36B (LC-36B) comes on the heels of Blue Origin rapidly rebuilding LC-36A which was substantially destroyed on the evening of May 28 during a violent explosion of the New Glenn rocket for the NG-4 mission as it was undergoing a static fire test ahead of a launch a weeks or so later.
Blue Origin is developing Launch Complex 36B (LC-36B) to exclusively support New Glenn’s new and more powerful 9×4 vehicle with 9 first stage BE-4 engines and 4 upper stage engines
They are also constructing additional operational infrastructure nearby pad 36 A and 36B to support high-cadence launch operations and infrastructure resiliency for New Glenn.
Pad 36A will continue as the primary pad for the 7×2 New Glenn vehicle
Currently Blue Origin has no ability to launch New Glenn from the Florida Space Coast since pad 36A was the only pad available for New Glenn.
Thus it is imperative for Blue Origin to fix the engine issues to resume New Glenn launch – but also imperative that safely comes first. They must not cut corners or sacrifice safely. Since a second explosion would liukely result in a loss of credibility
New Glenn is critical to NASA – since it is the launch vehicle for the Blue Origin commercial Blue Moon Mark 2 human lunar lander being developed for NASA – starting with a test vehicle for the Artemis III mission set to launch in 2027 to LEO
The root cause of the May 28 rocket explosion has been partially traced to a faulty LOX main valve in the BE-4 main engine of the first stage.
Blue Origin is still working through the fault tree. Thus further issues could be detected
Meanwhile Blue Origin is manufacturing new hardware to fix the LOX valve malfunction that they say should be ready by the end of August
Any fixes will also need to be applied to the BE-4 engine on ULA Vulcan rocket since they share heritage and both use variations of the Blue Origin BE-4 main engine
Tremendous work remains to pin down all problems, verify and certify any fixes and they be robust, reliable and reproducible
Thereafter a new static fire test must be successfully completed before even considering a potential launch date
Details from Blue Origin:
Blue Origin is developing Launch Complex 36B (LC-36B) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to support New Glenn’s 9×4 vehicle and is constructing additional operational infrastructure nearby to support high-cadence launch operations and infrastructure resiliency for New Glenn.
LC-36 has served as a cornerstone of American spaceflight for decades, supporting a broad range of missions for NASA and commercial partners. Now, this historic site is entering a new era, furthering New Glenn operations. LC-36B will serve as the operational home for New Glenn 9×4, while LC-36A remains the operational home for the New Glenn 7×2 vehicle.
Our additional infrastructure includes a new Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) for the 9×4 vehicle, and a Payload Processing Facility (PPF). Built in partnership with the U.S. government, the PPF will support both variants of New Glenn and National Security Space Launch (NSSL) providers on the Eastern Range.
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