NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Monday told CNBC that it will take “a critical moment” to restore the launch vehicle that was damaged last week by the explosion of the Blue Origin rocket.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was testing its giant New Glenn rocket Thursday at the Space Force launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when the rocket burst into flames. Bezos confirmed that all Blue Origin workers were safe following the incident, and promised to rebuild, while calling it a “very difficult day.”
The 2028 timeframe is “within the realm of possibility” for a launch pad return, Isaacman said in an interview with CNBC’s CEO Council.
“We all plan in general around the idea that we want to see Blue Origin be very successful,” Isaacman said. “So to recover, to restore the pad, to provide technology for the matter, to analyze the cause for sure. Let’s find out what is broken, and then we have to move forward.”
Isaacman, Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp toured the launch site and spoke with the launch site’s employees on Friday. Limp wrote in a Saturday post on X that Blue Origin has regained some access to the launchpad and is working on a rebuilding plan.
NASA has several contracts with Blue Origin as part of the space station’s Artemis program, an effort to return American astronauts to the Moon by 2028. It has contacted Blue Origin to launch an unmanned Blue Moon lander, called MK1, atop New Glenn later this year.
Taking a man to the moon would require a rocket that could carry a large payload, Isaacman said. That would put NASA in the “Heavy Falcon,” he said, referring to the heavy-lift rocket developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
“As far as the heavy lifting, you know, the really heavy lifting, you’ve got SpaceX and Blue Origin, and obviously one of them is down on the pad right now,” Isaacman said.
The New Glenn was designed by Blue Origin to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan heavy-lift rocket.
Blue Origin has one New Glenn launcher, making Thursday’s explosion the most devastating disaster. It plans to use the New Glenn launchpad from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, but that pad is still under development.
“We have a lot of information, actually, it was one of the first things that my team made available, that, hey, in the history of human flight, of every launch pad that we’ve built, every launch pad that we’ve ever rebuilt, here are the timelines,” Isaacman said. “Even if you’re going, you know, a fast pace, that’s going to take a serious amount of time.”
The incident also affects other Blue Origin customers, including Amazon. Blue Origin was expected to launch 48 satellites of Amazon’s fledgling internet business Leo from space this week, as part of several upcoming programs.
Amazon, founded by Bezos in 1994, has a Federal Communications Commission deadline to release about half of its constellation next month. It is also working to bring its Leo service online to commercial customers later this year, aimed at competing with SpaceX’s Starlink.
AST SpaceMobilewhich builds a device-specific satellite system, also relies on Blue Origin for some rocket launches. The stock closed up more than 6% on Monday, after falling nearly 17% on Friday.
