Blue Origin: A setback in the space race

[Elderberry]

The Week 6/16/2026

The firm’s only launchpad is out of commission

“For years, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket company operated in secrecy, overshadowed by the success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX,” said Karen Weise in The New York Times. Founded in 2000, the venture didn’t put a craft into orbit until January 2025. Over the past 18 months, Blue Origin finally seemed to be gaining momentum, getting closer to reliably launching a gigantic rocket, called New Glenn, that could lift greater payloads and potentially challenge SpaceX’s domination of the sector. But late last month, New Glenn exploded in a fireball during a test, badly damaging its sole launchpad in Florida. “At least one massive steel tower appeared to be essentially gone,” and the hydraulics and fuel systems beneath the $1 billion pad might be irrecoverable. Amazon has about 3,000 satellites it needs to launch to begin commercial operations of its Leo satellite internet service, a potential competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink. The explosion could set Blue Origin, Amazon, and other customers back a year.

More: https://theweek.com/tech/blue-origin-a-setback-in-space-race

[BobfromWB]

The Week 6/16/2026

The firm’s only launchpad is out of commission

“For years, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket company operated in secrecy, overshadowed by the success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX,” said Karen Weise in The New York Times. Founded in 2000, the venture didn’t put a craft into orbit until January 2025. Over the past 18 months, Blue Origin finally seemed to be gaining momentum, getting closer to reliably launching a gigantic rocket, called New Glenn, that could lift greater payloads and potentially challenge SpaceX’s domination of the sector. But late last month, New Glenn exploded in a fireball during a test, badly damaging its sole launchpad in Florida. “At least one massive steel tower appeared to be essentially gone,” and the hydraulics and fuel systems beneath the $1 billion pad might be irrecoverable. Amazon has about 3,000 satellites it needs to launch to begin commercial operations of its Leo satellite internet service, a potential competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink. The explosion could set Blue Origin, Amazon, and other customers back a year.

More: https://theweek.com/tech/blue-origin-a-setback-in-space-race

Further. Isaacman has made it clear that Blue Origin is out. The entire program will now be based around Space X. Which has no lander [ beyond renderings ], whose Starship has not made orbit, not demonstrated orbital refueling, has not passed PDR or CRD, not been man-rated.

But not to worry, as it has been determined that SpaceX's lander does not have to demonstrate a successful unmanned lunar landing, but can go directly from prototype to finished product with humans aboard. 2 years from now ...

'Foolish' and 'disaster' do not begin to cover it.