Blue Origin has identified the cause of an explosion of its New Glenn rocket that damaged the company’s Cape Canaveral launch facility in May. A valve that controls the flow of oxygen in one of the rocket’s engines was to blame.
New Glenn had launched three missions and was preparing for its fourth launch, lofting a communications satellite into orbit. During a routine engine test ahead of that attempt, the rocket exploded – destroying the rocket and its payload, and causing substantial damage to the company’s launch facility.
Since then, engineers had been searching for the cause of the accident. In a post on X, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said it has identified the problem – the anomaly originated at a valve that controls the flow of oxygen into one of the rocket’s seven BE-4 engines.
“Extensive component-level and engine hotfire tests have been conducted to understand the failure mode better and inform mitigations,” Limp said. “The path forward is clear.”
That includes making modifications to the valve that can be applied to already-manufactured engines for future flights. Limp said those fixes will be ready by the end of this month.
Another commercial space company, United Launch Alliance, uses Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines on its Vulcan rocket. It’s unclear if the fix would apply to those engines. ULA did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarification.
Blue Origin continues to make headway on repairs to its launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Debris was cleared from the pad in just days, and the company started work on rebuilding an updated version of its launch facility. The company says it will fly New Glenn again by the end of this year.
The clock is ticking on that return to flight. Blue Origin, along with SpaceX, was contracted by NASA to design and build a lunar lander for the agency’s Artemis program. The Artemis III mission launching late next year aims to test those vehicles in low-Earth orbit.
The plan, so far, is to launch Blue Origin’s design – the Blue Moon lander – into orbit on the New Glenn rocket. It was also tapped to send critical supplies to the lunar surface to begin building a permanent moon base.
In June, NASA leaders said the agency may look at other options for moon supply deliveries if the company can’t get back to flying in time.
