Investigation into Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explosion
Video from the channel FOX 35 Orlando about New Glenn, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 5:59. Language: English. Video type: News.
What is reported
FOX 35 interviews Zack Aubert, founder of Launch Pad Network, about the damage left by the New Glenn explosion during a static-fire test at Launch Complex 36, Blue Origin's only pad. According to Aubert, one of the lightning towers fell to the ground and the erector that carries the rocket and raises it vertical was destroyed. In addition, the roof of the flame deflector structure appears to have collapsed, and the other tower has several legs dented and exposed to far more heat than expected. Assessing the repairs will take weeks, and carrying them out, months. There was no payload on board and no one was injured.
Context
Aubert describes three phases: cleaning and securing the pad, finding out whether the failure was in the rocket or the pad and deciding how to proceed, including the option of moving straight to the larger New Glenn variant already announced. He recalls that Blue Origin already went through FAA investigations with New Shepard, and notes that NASA administrator Jared Isaacman visited the site. NASA had just commissioned the company to build infrastructure for a lunar base.
What it means
According to Aubert, New Glenn will probably be out of service for at least a year. That affects the demonstration of the MK1 lunar lander, planned for a few months later, and Artemis 3, for which two HLS landers were expected to be in lunar orbit the following year. Aubert argues that having several launchers, such as Falcon 9, New Glenn and Vulcan, makes it possible to absorb failures like this one.