posted 09-15-2015 11:36 AM               

Coming to the Space Coast

Today (Sept. 15) we announced that we'll be flying our orbital launch vehicle from Florida. Cape Canaveral has long been a gateway to humankind's greatest adventures. As a kid, I was inspired by the giant Saturn V missions that roared to life from these shores. Now we are thrilled to be coming to the Sunshine State for a new era of exploration.

Our new home on the Space Coast is anchored by the launch site at Complex 36. During its 43 years of service, 145 launches thundered into space from this site. The Mariner missions — the first U.S. spacecraft to visit other planets — lifted off from Complex 36. So did Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt; Surveyor 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to land softly on the Moon; and multiple weather, communications and national defense payloads hopped their rides to space from LC-36. The site saw its last launch in 2005 and the pad has stood silent for more than 10 years — too long. We can't wait to fix that.

One of the unique things about our Florida operations is that we aren't just launching here, we're building here. At Exploration Park, we'll have a 21st century production facility where we'll focus on manufacturing our reusable fleet of orbital launchers and readying them for flight again and again. Locating vehicle assembly near our launch site eases the challenge of processing and transporting really big rockets.

We'll be launching from here later this decade. You will hear us before you see us. Our American-made BE-4 engine – the power behind our orbital launch vehicle – will be acceptance tested here. Our BE-4 engine will also help make history as it powers the first flight of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket.

Residents of the Space Coast have enjoyed front-row seats to the future for nearly 60 years. Our team's passion for pioneering is the perfect fit for a community dedicated to forging new frontiers. Keep watching.

posted 06-29-2016 07:53 AM               

We broke ground on our orbital vehicle manufacturing site in Florida.

The 750,000 square foot rocket factory is custom-built from the ground up to accommodate manufacturing, processing, integration and testing. Among other things, the facility hosts large scale friction stir welding and automated composite processing equipment. All of the vehicle will be manufactured in this facility except for the engines. Initial BE-4 engine production will occur at our Kent facility while we conduct a site selection process later this year for a larger engine production facility to accommodate higher production rates.

I've included some photos that will give you an idea of what the vehicle manufacturing facility will look like in December 2017 when it's complete.

It's exciting to see the bulldozers in action — we're clearing the way for the production of a reusable fleet of orbital vehicles that we will launch and land, again and again.

posted 12-06-2016 08:27 AM               

First Steel Goes Up in Florida

Just a very short note to update you on the 750,000 square-foot New Glenn rocket factory we're building in Florida. The team has made extraordinary progress—as you can see here, the first steel is now going up.

And again, here's an image of what it will look like by the end of 2017.

posted 04-13-2017 01:27 PM               

Construction is progressing on Blue Origin's 750,000-square-foot facility being built at Exploration Park on NASA Kennedy Space Center property in Florida.

Blue Origin will use the factory to manufacture its two-stage super-heavy-lift New Glenn launch vehicle and launch the vehicles from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

posted 07-20-2017 06:39 PM               

Manufacturing facility for the heavy-lift New Glenn launch vehicle is coming along nicely.

posted 12-20-2017 09:07 AM               

The private rocketry company bankrolled by Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos was granted a temporary certificate of occupancy for a portion of its massive facility on Space Commerce Way Monday morning and began moving in by Tuesday [Dec. 12].

"If you haven't been on Space Commerce Way to see their beautiful, ginormous – that's the only way to describe it – facility where they're going to be manufacturing a rocket ... incredible facility, and they are moving in there today," said Nancy Bray, director of spaceport integration and services at Kennedy Space Center, during a Tuesday transportation conference at Port Canaveral.

Full occupancy of the 750,000-square-foot factory just south of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be granted by Space Florida, which manages KSC's Exploration Park, at a later date.

posted 12-20-2017 09:09 AM               

LOX/LNG oxidizer and propellant tanks delivered to LC-36. Starting to look more and more like a launch pad!

posted 03-22-2019 04:52 PM               

Just south of Blue Origin's imposing campus at Kennedy Space Center, an empty patch of land will soon be transformed into a sprawling, technology-laden extension of the aerospace company's existing rocket manufacturing facility.

Labeled as "South Campus" in water management district documents obtained by FLORIDA TODAY, the 90-acre expansion will connect to the factory at Exploration Park, which is a publicly accessible region just west of KSC's main gate. The two-lane Space Commerce Way winds through the area, connecting other players like satellite company OneWeb, economic development agency Space Florida and the main entrance to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

The south campus will nearly double the size of land Blue Origin already leases from NASA, enabling the Jeff Bezos-led company to establish "programs complimentary to those constructed on the adjacent North Campus," according to the documents. Blue will build 270- and 313-foot variants of New Glenn rockets in the massive blue-and-white factory on the north campus, which will launch no sooner than 2020.

posted 03-11-2020 10:53 AM               

An inside look at our completed mission control in the New Glenn rocket factory.

posted 05-29-2026 01:30 PM               

Aerial views shared by Launch Heaven showing the aftermath to the pad:

posted 05-30-2026 04:22 PM               

Now that we have more visibility into the impact, we know that we lost the lightning tower, the transporter-erector, and the hydraulic cylinders, but we caught a lot of breaks, too, and intend to make the most of them. The tank farm, Integration Facility (IF), vehicle access tower, and water tower are in good shape. As part of our pad cleanup and rebuild efforts, we've relocated Never Tell Me the Odds and three GS2 vehicles from the integration facility. Hardware recovery and debris removal operations are complete, and reconstruction of the pad has started.

To return to flight this year, we're not rebuilding the same pad. We're going straight to a horizontal/vertical hybrid CONOPS we had already been developing for our 9x4 New Glenn launch vehicle, using existing infrastructure, skipping a new transporter-erector, and creating a common CONOPS across two pads.

posted 06-02-2026 10:45 AM               

Some LC-36 updates. Now that we've had access to the pad and integration facility we can share a bit of good news. The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good. The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced. The booster "Never Tell Me The Odds" and the three GS-2s that were onsite in the integration facility also look good.

I've seen some speculation that we might move directly to the 9x4 configuration, but we won't do that. Rate manufacturing of 7x2 is going well, and we're going to continue that at pace as planned and store the stages for use. In addition, we had already been working for some time on eliminating our transporter-erector in favor of an alternative vertical conop, and we'll now go directly to that; so we don't need a new transporter-erector.

We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter.

posted 06-27-2026 11:05 AM               

Quite a sight to see the progress this team has made since May 28.

Wreckage recovery from start to finish was completed in 9 days, and all debris has been cleared from Launch Complex 36. Huge shoutout to the team who have been working 7x24.

We have started reconstruction and still plan to fly again this year. Will have more details on the new conop soon.

posted 07-19-2026 12:43 PM               

Launch table is out.

The two-million-pound launch table is heading to the Integration Facility for inspection and adjustments to support our future ConOps. Once reinstalled at the pad, it'll be outfitted with the first stage aft umbilicals and tied into the water system, which delivers water injection just below the engine nozzles.

posted 07-27-2026 01:34 PM               

Destacking of the vehicle access tower is complete.

We removed the top six modules to begin integrating fluids and controls as part of our new ConOps. This includes adding cryo systems, pneumatics, and mechanisms.

We’ll also add in floors for access before we begin re-stacking. This allows us to work in parallel, keeping with our return-to-flight timeline.

posted 08-12-2026 06:24 PM               

Returning Launch Complex 36 to Two Pads: Blue Origin Begins Construction of LC-36B

Blue Origin is developing Launch Complex 36B (LC-36B) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to support New Glenn's 9x4 vehicle and is constructing additional operational infrastructure nearby to support high-cadence launch operations and infrastructure resiliency for New Glenn.

LC-36 has served as a cornerstone of American spaceflight for decades, supporting a broad range of missions for NASA and commercial partners. Now, this historic site is entering a new era, furthering New Glenn operations. LC-36B will serve as the operational home for New Glenn 9x4, while LC-36A remains the operational home for the New Glenn 7x2 vehicle.

Our additional infrastructure includes a new Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) for the 9x4 vehicle, and a Payload Processing Facility (PPF). Built in partnership with the U.S. government, the PPF will support both variants of New Glenn and National Security Space Launch (NSSL) providers on the Eastern Range.

Above: A render of the Vertical Integration Facility with Launch Complexes 36A & 36B in the distance.

Above: A render of LC-36B with LC-36A in the distance.

posted 09-04-2026 05:24 PM               

The team has been busy transporting all modules that were removed from the Vehicle Access Tower back to the pad to prepare for re-stacking.

We designed and installed floors, pneumatics and electrical panels, and backbone piping on the modules. And we're moving the elevator to the side of the Vehicle Access Tower, freeing up significantly more floor access for our new CONOPS.

posted 09-29-2026 02:03 PM               

We're going vertical! The first module is placed on the vehicle access tower. We've added two floors and guard rails for access, along with cryo control skids and environmental control system piping and filter boxes. Five more modules to go as we work toward returning to flight this year.

A lot of hard work behind this. Couldn’t be prouder of the team.