New Glenn

Where it stands

In flight test; grounded since the 28 May 2026 pad explosion, traced by Blue Origin to a BE-4 main oxygen valve. On 29 September 2026 NASA added the New Glenn 9×4 launch service to its NASA Launch Services II contract.

The mission

New Glenn's debut on 16 January 2025 reached orbit but lost the booster on landing. The second flight, on 13 November 2025, carried NASA's ESCAPADE spacecraft towards Mars and achieved the first successful booster landing; the third, on 19 April 2026, reused and landed that booster again, but the FAA's closure statement records a cryogenic leak that froze a hydraulic line and caused a second-stage thrust anomaly, leaving the AST SpaceMobile payload in the wrong orbit. On 28 May 2026 the next vehicle was destroyed in a hotfire test explosion at Launch Complex 36. On 5 August 2026 chief executive Dave Limp said the anomaly originated at the main oxygen valve on one of the BE-4 engines, confirmed by hardware recovery and inspections, with modified valve hardware ready by the end of that month. On 29 September 2026 NASA added Blue Origin's New Glenn 9×4 launch service to the NASA Launch Services II contract under its annual on-ramp clause, making it available for future NASA missions; the contract's ordering period runs through June 2030.

Latest reporting

• 08 Aug 2026Blue Origin can land New Glenn and has nowhere to launch it
• 24 Jul 2026NASA reopens a Saturn V test stand for Blue Origin's upper stage

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