Blue Origin LLC, the Jeff Bezos-backed space company, recently experienced testing failures, including a factory mishap that damaged a portion of its upcoming New Glenn rocket. This rocket is central to the company’s efforts to challenge SpaceX in the competitive space industry.
In one incident, the upper portion of a rocket crumpled due to worker error while being moved to a storage hangar. In another, a separate upper rocket portion failed during stress testing and exploded. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, and repairs are underway.
These setbacks come as Blue Origin is under pressure to launch the New Glenn rocket in October for NASA’s Escapade mission. This mission aims to send twin spacecraft to Mars to study its magnetic field. The launch window is critical, as Mars will be close to Earth, and the opportunity won’t arise again for another two years.
The company is working tirelessly to meet the deadline, with all flight hardware completed and assembly and engine integrations underway. However, the recent mishaps involved hardware scheduled for the rocket’s second and third flights, which are planned after the October debut.
Despite these challenges, Blue Origin remains on track to launch New Glenn this year. The rocket is designed to carry satellites and eventually people into Earth’s orbit, playing a key role in the company’s strategy to compete with SpaceX and Boeing for U.S. national security missions and to clear a backlog of commercial launches.
Since taking over as CEO in December, Dave Limp has made significant changes to push Blue Origin out of a years-long research and development slump. The company has also resumed flights with its space tourism rocket and was recently selected to compete for up to $5.6 billion in contracts to launch national security satellites.
With a launch backlog worth $10 billion and improvements in production and deliveries of its BE-4 engine, Blue Origin is gearing up for a busy future. Bezos, who has significantly increased his investment in the company, emphasized the importance of making spaceflight more affordable.