{"id":17015,"date":"2026-05-29T21:31:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origins-rocket-blowup-could-cause-big-problems-for-nasa-and-a-satellite-slowdown-for-amazon-leo\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T21:31:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:48","slug":"blue-origins-rocket-blowup-could-cause-big-problems-for-nasa-and-a-satellite-slowdown-for-amazon-leo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origins-rocket-blowup-could-cause-big-problems-for-nasa-and-a-satellite-slowdown-for-amazon-leo\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin\u2019s rocket blowup could cause big problems for NASA \u2014 and a satellite slowdown for Amazon Leo"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"709\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260529-leo-1260x709.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-931183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260529-leo-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260529-leo-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260529-leo-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260529-leo.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">One day after Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad during a static-fire test, United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 successfully sent 29 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit. (ULA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture is still assessing the damage from this week\u2019s catastrophic New Glenn rocket explosion on the company\u2019s Florida launch pad, but it\u2019s already clear that it will take months to make repairs and return to flight. So, what does that mean for Blue Origin and its customers?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess the short answer, without pontificating, is that everybody gets delayed,\u201d said Caleb Henry, director of research at Quilty Space, a Florida-based industry research institute.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday night\u2019s blast occurred during a static-fire test for the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which was nicknamed \u201cNo, It\u2019s Necessary.\u201d The launcher was due to put 48 satellites into low Earth orbit as early as next week for Amazon Leo\u2019s high-speed internet network.<\/p>\n<p>That launch is now off the table, but Amazon Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper) is still pushing ahead with satellite deployment in anticipation of kicking off commercial service as soon as this summer. Not far from Blue Origin\u2019s ruined pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station\u2019s Launch Complex 36, United Launch Alliance sent 29 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit today on an Atlas 5 rocket.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Atlas V launches Amazon Leo 7 (LA-07)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_s21xReZ69k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Amazon has also reserved dozens of future launches on Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 6, ULA\u2019s next-generation Vulcan and SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9. \u201cWeirdly, as far as New Glenn customers go, Amazon is probably in the best position to deal with this setback,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got safety through the diversity of their launch supplier base, where if one company goes down, they can depend on another to keep the constellation going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, there is a limit. \u201cIf they were depending on Blue Origin to get them over the hump to the minimum number of satellites they have deemed necessary for turning on service, that goal is going to take a little bit longer,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n<p>How long will it take to get the New Glenn rocket back on track? \u201cIf we were looking at something that was purely just a rocket failure, then I would say three to six months is the expected range for a return to flight,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not just a rocket failure. Extensive damage was done to the launch pad and its surroundings. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had that many launch pads that have been destroyed, which is a great thing,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI would look at how long it took SpaceX to get back to flight after the AMOS-6 failure back in 2016. That\u2019s probably the best proxy for this kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It took SpaceX 15 months to repair its pad at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Launch Complex 40 and resume launches. In the interim, SpaceX continued to send up rockets from alternate launch pads, but that option isn\u2019t immediately available to Blue Origin. Launch Complex 36 was the only Blue Origin facility capable of accommodating New Glenn. Additional pads are being planned in Florida and California, but those plans are still just in their beginning stages.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not good news for NASA<\/h3>\n<p>If it takes more than a couple of months to get New Glenn back in service, that will add complications to NASA\u2019s plans for sending astronauts to the moon and eventually building a permanent lunar base. New Glenn was due to launch Blue Origin\u2019s robotic Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to the moon this fall with NASA payloads on board, partly to test technologies for a crew-capable Mark 2 lander.<\/p>\n<p>There was a chance that the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander might be tested in low Earth orbit next year during NASA\u2019s Artemis 3 mission. But with New Glenn sidelined, the timeline for developing the Blue Moon architecture faces steep hurdles. That will force NASA to rely more heavily on SpaceX\u2019s Starship, which is navigating its own developmental challenges.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Absolute carnage on the ground at LC-36 this afternoon pic.twitter.com\/SZKmuWowpn<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jerry Pike (@JerryPikePhoto) May 29, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>NASA is planning to use either Starship or Blue Moon to put astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028 during the Artemis 4 mission. And just this week, NASA announced that it had chosen Blue Origin, New Glenn and Blue Moon to deliver two lunar terrain vehicles to the moon in time for those vehicles to be used by the Artemis program\u2019s astronauts.<\/p>\n<p>John Logsdon, the founder of George Washington University\u2019s Space Policy Institute, told Time magazine that the New Glenn explosion raises fresh questions about those plans. \u201cThis incident certainly throws a monkey wrench in the Artemis schedule, which was probably not achievable even before the explosion,\u201d Time quoted Logsdon as saying.<\/p>\n<p>NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged the challenge today in a memo sent to agency employees. \u201cI am sure it is not lost on anyone how this situation could potentially impact our Artemis and Moon Base ambitions,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI also know that most of you chose careers at NASA because you thrive in challenging circumstances. This moment is challenging, but it is far from insurmountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A reminder that \u2018rockets are hard\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>NASA isn\u2019t the only government customer for New Glenn launches. The Pentagon is also planning to use the rocket for national security launches. Despite this week\u2019s explosion, the U.S. Space Force announced today that Blue Origin was receiving a task order from the National Reconnaissance Office for a New Glenn launch in the 2027-2028 time frame.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis anomaly is a solemn reminder that the critical capability this community provides is rocket science and inherently challenging,\u201d Space Force Lt. Col. Doug Downs said in a news release. \u201cThe National Security Space Launch program will continue working closely with our Blue Origin partners to help identify the root cause and implement corrective actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Henry, one of the biggest losers \u2014 at least in the short term \u2014 is AST SpaceMobile, which planned to lean on the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket to launch its BlueBird satellites for direct-to-device connectivity. The first such launch took place last month, but AST\u2019s satellite was sent into the wrong orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that New Glenn is now out of commission just adds to AST\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at their satellite design, they have very big satellites, which means they can\u2019t fit that many on other rockets, even the Falcon 9,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAST is the poster child for the perfect New Glenn customer. \u2026 Now they\u2019re going to have to wait longer, or depend more heavily on other launch providers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finding those alternatives \u201cmight be easier said than done, because we\u2019re in the fourth year of a global shortage of commercial launch supply,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n<p>AST\u2019s share price dropped about 15% today, and other publicly traded space companies saw their value decline as well \u2014 perhaps at least in part because the New Glenn explosion reminded investors that, as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk put it, \u201crockets are hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One day after Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad during a static-fire test, United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 successfully sent 29 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit. (ULA via YouTube) Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture is still assessing the damage from this week\u2019s catastrophic New Glenn rocket explosion on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[688,304,1508,509,625,190,510],"class_list":["post-17015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon-leo","tag-artemis","tag-blue-moon","tag-blue-origin","tag-moon","tag-nasa","tag-new-glenn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}