Blue Origin plans a major New Glenn expansion in Florida
The buildout would let Blue Origin process more missions at once and prepare for a larger New Glenn variant.
Blue Origin says it is expanding its Florida launch and production footprint around New Glenn in a bid to support up to 150 launches a year there. The plan adds two more New Glenn launch pads on top of the two already being built at Cape Canaveral, plus a new factory that could make as many as 150 upper stages for a larger New Glenn variant. The company also wants two more landing ships for first-stage recovery, beyond its current ship Jacklyn. A new customer integration facility, being built with the US Space Force, is also planned with four payload bays so multiple missions can be processed in parallel.
Why it matters
For customers, the change is less about a single rocket flight and more about throughput. More pads, a larger production base, extra landing ships and a four-bay integration facility point to a launch system built to handle more missions in parallel and to support recovery and preparation work at a higher pace.
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Sources
- Ars Technica