LOS ANGELES, June 30 (Xinhua) -- American private aerospace company Blue Origin said Tuesday it will adopt a horizontal-vertical hybrid launch concept for its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket as it works to resume flight later this year.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said on social media platform X that the company will not rebuild the damaged Launch Complex 36 in the U.S. state of Florida to its previous configuration following a major anomaly during a New Glenn engine hot-fire test on May 28.
The New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad during the hot-fire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Limp said the investigation into the anomaly is ongoing, with early analysis pointing to the aft section of the first stage of the rocket.
He said that to return New Glenn to flight this year, the company will not rebuild the same pad, but will instead move to a horizontal-vertical hybrid configuration -- a new concept that has the added benefit of increasing launch cadence.
Blue Origin is a key commercial partner in the Artemis moon program of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The explosion in the May test may delay future New Glenn missions and may affect the schedule of some NASA lunar exploration missions, according to media reports. ■
