For decades—yes, literally decades—it has been easy to dismiss Blue Origin as a company brimming with potential but rarely producing much of consequence.
But last week the company took a tremendous stride forward, not just launching its second orbital rocket, but subsequently landing the booster on a barge named Jacklyn. It now seems clear that Blue Origin is in the midst of a transition from sleeping giant to force to be reckoned with.
To get a sense of where the company goes from here, Ars spoke with the company’s chief executive, Dave Limp, on the eve of last week’s launch. The first thing he emphasized is how much the company learned about New Glenn, and the process of rolling the vehicle out and standing it up for launch, from the vehicle’s first attempt in January.
“I’ve been surprised at how smoothly the past 30 days has gone, which is way, way less time than the first flight, and kind of on our nominal schedule,” Limp said. “You know, there’s little things that have poked their heads up, but it hasn’t been anything that’s really set us back.”
Launch was delayed due to weather and then a solar storm, but when the skies cleared New Glenn lifted off on time, and the vehicle’s first and second stages performed exceptionally well.
Cadence and manufacturing
Limp said success on New Glenn’s second flight would set the company up for a significant increase in cadence. The company is building enough hardware for “well above” a dozen flights in 2026, with the upper-end limit of 24 launches. The pacing item is second stages. Right now Blue Origin can build one per month, but the production rate is increasing.