Blue Origins Cape Campus continues to expand ahead of New Glenn ramp-up

Date:
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 03:37:38 +0000

Description:
Blue Origins rocket factory in Floridas Exploration Park is undergoing rapid transformation as the company The post Blue Origins Cape Campus continues to expand ahead of New Glenn ramp-up appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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Blue Origins rocket factory in Floridas Exploration Park is undergoing rapid transformation as the company ramps up production of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and prepares for significant vehicle upgrades, including a more powerful future variant.



Recent aerial imagery from the NSF team that flew over the Cape (100s of photos in L2) reveals a New Glenn second-stage tank now installed inside the companys 2CAT (Second Stage Cleaning and Testing) building.

The appearance of the tank signals continued progress in second-stage manufacturing, with Blue Origin having produced multiple units over the past twelve months a pace that is critical for achieving a sustainable launch cadence. The 2CAT building is currently operating without its main door, offering rare public views into the facility. The door was damaged during an overly energetic test last year and is now being replaced, with assembly of the new structure clearly visible on site.

Massive Factory Expansion Underway

Blue Origin has consolidated plans for a major campus expansion to the south of its existing facilities.

Original designs called for seven separate buildings; updated permit filings now show six of those structures merged into a single enormous building, underscoring the companys ambitious long-term production goals.

Additional construction includes a near-complete expansion of the main
factory for composites manufacturing potentially for New Glenns large
payload fairings, which may grow even larger in future iterations. Workers were recently observed assembling fairing-shaped structures outside one of
the buildings. A new metal-forming facility is now fully enclosed, while foundation work has begun for the Hardware Integration Facility, which will serve as one of the final assembly points before hardware is transported to the launch pad.

Launch Complex 36 Post-Flight Refurbishment:

At Launch Complex 36 (LC-36), the first stage of the New Glenn vehicle that flew the rockets second mission nicknamed Never Tell Me The Odds has returned for refurbishment after successfully landing.



The booster now shares the Horizontal Integration Facility with upper stages for the next two flights, creating visible space constraints.

To accommodate the hardware, Blue Origin has moved first- and second-stage simulators outdoors, where they are plainly visible from the air.

The company has not yet announced whether the flight-proven booster will be reused on the upcoming third mission or held in reserve pending inspection results and production of new boosters.

Payload plans for flight three also remain fluid, with speculation that it could carry Blue Origins Mk1 lunar lander prototype, though alternative missions are possible depending on customer availability.

Major New Glenn Upgrades Revealed

Blue Origin recently confirmed a series of significant enhancements to the
New Glenn architecture. The current version is now formally designated New Glenn 72 (seven BE-4 engines on the first stage, two on the second).

Near-term upgrades include propellant subcooling to increase tank capacity
and overall performance, as well as higher engine thrust. Propellant subcooling is the process of cooling liquid oxygen (LOX) and/or liquid
methane (LCH4) well below their normal boiling points before loading them
into a rockets tanks. For New Glenn, this means chilling LOX from its typical ~90 K (183 C) down to around 7080 K and methane from ~112 K down to ~90100 K (exact temperatures depend on the target pressure).

Falcon 9 gained ~3040 percent more payload to LEO when SpaceX introduced deep subcooling in 20152016. Subcooling is one of the main reasons later Falcon 9/Heavy blocks outperform early versions despite almost identical hardware.

Evidence of subcooling preparations has been accumulating for months. New nitrogen infrastructure, subcooling units delivered to the pad, and site-clearing adjacent to the liquid oxygen tank farm all point to imminent implementation.

Two new large cranes have also appeared on site, one near the hydrogen tank farm and another close to the Blue Moon lunar lander test area. Perhaps most notably, Blue Origin unveiled plans for a substantially larger and more powerful variant dubbed New Glenn 94. The new configuration will feature nine BE-4 engines on the first stage and four on the second stage, along with an increased vehicle height for greater propellant volume and payload capacity.

Official renderings depict the 94 vehicle launching from the existing LC-36 pad, but Blue Origin also controls the adjacent LC-12 site to the north, leaving open the possibility of constructing a second dedicated launch
complex optimized for the upgraded rocket.

With production accelerating, facilities expanding rapidly, and major vehicle upgrades on the horizon, Blue Origin appears poised to significantly increase both the capability and flight rate of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket in the coming years.

Lead Image: Max Evans for NSF hundreds of hi-res photos for each of NSFs flyovers over the years available to L2 members.



The post Blue Origins Cape Campus continues to expand ahead of New Glenn ramp-up appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/12/blue-origins-cape-campus-expand-new-gl enn-ramp/


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