Blue Origin outlines new Cape Canaveral pad for larger New Glenn
Blue Origin will add Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral for a larger, nine-engine New Glenn variant.
what happened
Blue Origin outlined plans to build Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a second pad alongside the LC-36A pad it is rebuilding after the May 28 static-fire explosion, per SpaceNews and Aviation Week. LC-36B will serve a larger New Glenn 9x4 variant, with nine BE-4 engines in the first stage and four BE-3U engines in the upper stage, versus the current New Glenn 7x2 flying from the rebuilt LC-36A. The new pad includes a vertical integration facility and a payload processing facility; the Space Force awarded Blue Origin a $78.2 million contract in October 2025 for the latter. CEO Dave Limp said rebuilding LC-36A and flying again this year remains the priority.
why it matters
A dedicated pad for a scaled-up New Glenn signals Blue Origin is building toward larger national-security and commercial payload classes beyond the current vehicle's capacity, while decoupling that expansion from the return-to-flight timeline of the existing pad.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Blue Origin
- Category
- launch
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-08-12
- Published
- 2026-08-14 17:30 UTC