By Joey RouletteJune 2 (Reuters) – Blue Origin will return its New Glenn rocket to flight before the year ends, CEO Dave Limp said late on Monday, days after one of the rockets exploded, damaging the company’s launch pad and tightening a U.S. launch bottleneck for satellite companies.Blue Origin staff has inspected damage to the company’s only launch pad, and the company has not said what may have caused the explosion on Thursday.AdvertisementAdvertisementLimp said key fuel tanks at the pad “are all in good shape,” calling it “good luck” because replacing those assets if damaged would take a long time. Nearby rocket boosters on deck for future flights “also look good,” he said, but the pad’s main support tower needs repair.The New Glenn explosion, though no satellites were onboard and no one was injured, was one of Blue Origin’s most dire failures since its founding in 2000, besetting both its centerpiece rocket and the sole launch pad it blasts off from.A grounding that could last until year end follows a mission failure in April on New Glenn’s third flight. Blue Origin has been under pressure to increase New Glenn’s flight rate due to mounting competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the world’s most active launch company.The New Glenn explosion thundered across the Space Coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida as the company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was preparing to launch 48 internet satellites for Amazon, Blue Origin’s biggest private customer.AdvertisementAdvertisementAmazon similarly faces competitive pressure to expand its satellite constellation to compete with Musk’s Starlink.Amazon also has launch arrangements with United Launch Alliance, the joint rocket venture of Boei …
