Construction of the Blue Origin New Glenn Launch Pad Almost Complete

The New Glenn Original booster for Blue Origin will soon call Launch Complex 36 home, as the launch pad nears completion. This is according to the Vice President of Test and Flight Operations, Scott Henderson. 

Everyone can now see the water tower beginning to take shape as work speeds up with the hope of launches in the near future. The plan is to use the site to send reusable New Glenn rockets to space as soon as 2021, provided the facility is done on time. 

Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, looks forward to using LC36 on numerous missions once work is complete. Since the New Glenn launch, work has been ongoing, but it’s only recently that locals have started noticing the fast-rising tower. 

Some describe it as a ‘monster’ tower due to its enormous size, while others expect it to be even bigger than they can imagine. 

Plans for the New Glenn launch pad began in 2015 when Blue Origin entered into a lease agreement with the Air Force. The next step came 2 years later when the company finalised its rocket factory construction in Exploration Park near KSC (Kennedy Space Centre). 

Progress at the New Glenn Launch Pad

Blue Origin will soon be delivering rockets from the site as recent pictures indicate work is moving on swiftly. The site was originally LC-36A constructed in 1961. It served the Air Force as a launching site for AFAC (Air Force Atlas-Centaur) rockets but later changed hands to NASA.

Once NASA took over the site, it went straight to work and built another launch pad (36B). LC-36A remains a significant part of US history since it launched the 1^st US spacecraft to land on the moon. 

The site is currently in Blue Origin’s operation and they currently have an agreement in place, signed in 2018, to construct a rocket testing and refurbishment facility. Construction is underway for the facility at Exploration Park, making it the 2^nd largest in the area. 

Another plan that’s in the works, is to utilize an empty 90-acre land leased from NASA and located at Kennedy Space Centre. Blue Origin has bigger plans for the area, given the New Glenn Launch pad’s significant progress.