What Blue Origin is Up To

(Jul 3, 2026 05:32 AM)Yazata Wrote: Blue Origin update from Nasaspaceflight.com

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/nUYoWAVE6uk

If only Boeing could work that magically fast with Starliner. Granted, the latter is a very complicated little thing, but rebuilding a destroyed area and also redesigning the launchpad in the course of that along with finding the bug that blew up the New Glenn rocket seems an equivalent acrobatic feat.

(Jul 3, 2026 06:19 AM)C C Wrote: If only Boeing could work that magically fast with Starliner. Granted, the latter is a very complicated little thing, but rebuilding a destroyed area and also redesigning the launchpad in the course of that along with finding the bug that blew up the New Glenn rocket seems an equivalent acrobatic feat.

I was critical in the past about how slowly Blue Origin seemed to be moving. I think Jeff Bezos was as well. Part of that might have been Bezos' own fault in that he wanted to do things right in the early days and it looks to me like he hired seasoned aerospace professionals... and ended up with something like a clone of Boeing.

But something seems to have changed more recently. I don't know if that's Dave Limp's doing or whether Jeff Bezos decided to get more hands-on. The determination with which they are responding to the destruction of their launch pad is frankly impressive.

Dave Limp (Blue Origin CEO) just gave an update on their inquiry into what caused the New Glenn explosion:

Quote:"Wanted to give an update on the hotfire anomaly investigation. Progress continues. The anomaly originated at the main oxygen valve on one of the BE-4 engines, which was later confirmed by hardware recovery and inspections. Extensive component-level and engine hotfire tests have been conducted to understand the failure mode better and inform mitigations. The path forward is clear. We're making small modifications to the valve that can be quickly retrofitted to existing engines. We’re manufacturing the updated hardware, which will be ready by the end of this month. In parallel, we're working through the remaining fault tree analysis."

https://x.com/davill/status/2085074404627915059

It's always valves...

There's still the question of how a misbehaving oxygen valve could lead to the huge explosion we saw. Scott Manley has an interesting speculation about that. Suppose the LOX and fuel valves were supposed to open simultaneously, but the LOX valve was sticky and remained closed while the fuel valve opened. That could lead to the preburner being filled with more fuel than it was designed for but not igniting (because no oxidizer). Then imagine the sticky LOX valve deciding to open, oxidizer flowing in and triggering a bigger and more forceful reaction than the preburner was designed for. So an engine explodes rupturing the propellant tanks up above it. That's just speculation at this point.

The repaired segments of the disassembled New Glenn launch tower have returned to LC36 for restacking.

Dave Limp says:

The team has been busy transporting all modules that were removed from the Vehicle Access Tower back to the pad to prepare for re-stacking. We designed and installed floors, pneumatics and electrical panels, and backbone piping on the modules. And we're moving the elevator to the side of the Vehicle Access Tower, freeing up significantly more floor access for our new CONOPS.

Ahead of Labor Day, I want to thank all of Team Blue for your hard work and give a shoutout to the team at the pad for their dedication to our return to flight.