Blue Origin overviews plan for dual pad ops at Cape Canaveral

Date:
Sat, 15 Aug 2026 22:57:11 +0000

Description:
As Blue Origin continues restoring its primary launch pad at LC-36A, the company has released The post Blue Origin overviews plan for dual pad ops at Cape Canaveral appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

As Blue Origin continues restoring its primary launch pad at LC-36A, the company has released new renders of a second launch complex designed to support its larger New Glenn 94 variant.

Designated LC-36B, the new pad will be built just north of the existing
Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and will share the overall site with the pad dedicated to the smaller New Glenn 72
configuration.





The plan calls for two fully independent launch sites working in tandem with
a new Vertical Integration Facility.

This dual-pad approach is intended to give Blue Origin both a path back to flight operations with the repaired LC-36A and a clear route to higher
mission cadence once the upgraded 94 version of New Glenn comes online. Were building Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to support New Glenns high-cadence launch operations and infrastructure resiliency. Read more: https://t.co/BzTHt5YGmQ pic.twitter.com/CiLffraAN1

Blue Origin (@blueorigin) August 12, 2026



By pairing the restored original pad with a purpose-built second pad and supporting integration infrastructure, Blue Origin is positioning Launch Complex 36 as a more flexible and higher-throughput site capable of
supporting the next phase of New Glenn operations.

The 72 vehicle, which has flown three times and experienced an on-pad explosion earlier this year, uses seven BE-4 engines on its first stage and two BE-3U engines on the second stage.

The 94 version will feature nine BE-4 engines on the booster and four BE-3U engines on the upper stage, providing greater payload capacity to orbit. Blue Origin designates the 72 pad as LC-36A and the 94 pad as LC-36B.

The relative locations of the two pads have been known for some time through regulatory filings, but the new render offers the clearest public view yet of the 94 infrastructure.

The company continues to work toward a higher launch cadence for New Glenns future.

After the May explosion at LC-36A, Blue Origin has been repairing the pad while introducing hardware and procedures intended to accelerate turnaround. One significant change involves stacking the vehicle vertically on the pad using a mobile crane rather than a traditional transporter-erector.

See Also LC-36 Rebuild Updates L2 Blue Origin Section NSF Store Click Here
to Join L2

Although LC-36A is not yet fully ready for these operations, teams have begun practicing the sequence with a New Glenn second-stage simulator and a fairing simulator at the former Launch Complex 11 site.

These rehearsals are designed to refine processes that will later be applied to flight hardware once the pad is restored.

The render of LC-36B shows an elevated launch mount, a large flame trench and diverter (oriented to one side), and a tower equipped with a pair of stacking arms.

The overall layout bears a strong resemblance to SpaceXs Starship Pad 2 at Starbase, a design philosophy that SpaceX has since applied to additional Starship pads in Texas and Florida. Blue Origins tower configuration differs from the rebuilt structure planned for LC-36A and appears optimized for rapid vertical integration.

In parallel, Blue Origin is constructing a Vertical Integration Facility
north of the skid strip inside Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, within practical distance of LC-36.

Steel erection for the building is already well underway. The company also plans a dedicated Payload Processing Facility farther south, allowing fairing and payload integration closer to the launch site, another step aimed at supporting higher flight rates. Details of the complete concept of operations for the 94 vehicle remain incomplete. How payloads will move from the processing facility through the Vertical Integration Facility and onto the
pad via the tower arms has not been fully described.

The stacking arms are not intended for booster recovery; the 94 first stage
is expected to retain landing legs, and the tower orientation would not support a catch operation in any case.

The new infrastructure reflects Blue Origins effort to increase New Glenns operational tempo while fielding a higher-performance variant. Construction progress on the Vertical Integration Facility and the recent pad render provide the clearest indication yet of how the company intends to support
both the existing 72 and the forthcoming 94 configurations from the same Cape Canaveral complex.

Lead Image: Blue Origin.



The post Blue Origin overviews plan for dual pad ops at Cape Canaveral appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/blue-origin-launch-pad-cape-canaveral/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100)