Blue Origin delays New Glenn's next launch to January 2027 after May pad explosion

A January target replaces the 2026 plan

Blue Origin will not fly its New Glenn rocket again in 2026. CEO Dave Limp told staff in a memo on Wednesday, 4 November, that the next launch is now targeted for January 2027. The Financial Times was first to report the slip, citing people familiar with the matter. In October, founder Jeff Bezos had told Fox News the company was aiming for a December launch, joking that it could be "probably December 31st." CNBC, citing the same memo, puts the new window roughly 10 days later than the earlier target.

“This small adjustment doesn't diminish what we've accomplished or the importance of the work still ahead.”

Pad rebuild and the May explosion

On 28 May, New Glenn blew up during an engine test at Cape Canaveral, Florida, destroying the rocket and badly damaging the company's only New Glenn launch pad there. The explosion came only days before a flight that would have carried Amazon satellites into orbit. According to the Financial Times, an engine valve failed during the test and set off a fire. Limp has blamed a hard summer of weather for slowing repairs, and flash floods in the region in recent days are expected to hamper the work further. In June, Blue Origin said it had not yet identified the cause, and Limp had then said the company would fly again before the end of 2026.

Amazon and NASA feel the delay

Amazon is the most directly affected customer, since New Glenn was due to carry 48 Amazon Leo internet satellites on its next flight. Blue Origin holds a contract with Amazon for 24 New Glenn launches, although Amazon also uses other providers to put satellites into orbit. The Federal Communications Commission has already reduced the spectrum priority Amazon holds for satellites that launch late. For NASA, the rocket is meant to launch the Blue Moon lander, which the agency plans to use to land astronauts on the Moon under Artemis. Blue Origin also holds a $3.4bn NASA contract to develop a module that would carry astronauts to the lunar surface.

A slower race with SpaceX

Since January 2025 the vehicle has taken off just three times, and the company is now years behind its original schedule. Before the explosion, Blue Origin had planned 12 New Glenn flights this year. It has also asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to fly as many as 50 rockets a year from its Cape Canaveral pad. SpaceX, which completed a large IPO in June, has moved quickly with its Starship rocket. Josh Parker, an analyst at Capstone in Washington DC, said the delays were inevitable given the scale of the May blast.

“Still, Blue Origin seems to have made a tremendous amount of progress in returning to flight.”

Funding and valuation

Limp told employees the team had delivered what many expected would take years, and that the company had made real headway on the Florida site since recovering the wreckage. The FT, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Blue Origin raised $10bn in its first outside fundraising, with Coatue leading the round and Bezos adding $2bn more. That round was valued at $140bn post-money. A separate July report put the company's valuation at $130bn, so the two figures differ and should be read as separate reports.

What comes next

The January target depends on how quickly the damaged Florida pad can be finished. Flash floods in the region are expected to slow that work further, and the company has not changed its goal of returning New Glenn to flight as its top priority.