Blue Origin slipped its return to flight into January 2027. The old target was the end of this year. The gap, per a person familiar with the plan, is about 10 days.
Ten days. They blew up a rocket and a launchpad. They missed by the length of a long weekend. That is the most punctual disaster recovery in aerospace history.
CEO Dave Limp sent a memo. He said "rebuilding at this pace hasn't been easy." No kidding, Dave. Nobody has ever rebuilt a launchpad after an explosion and called it a spa day.
He also blamed summer weather at Cape Canaveral. Florida. In summer. Weather happened. Someone should alert the meteorologists.
Limp called the move "proactively updating" the launch date. Proactive. You can't be late if you announce the lateness before it arrives. Run that logic past your landlord.
Last month, Jeff Bezos told Fox News the company still expected a December flight. That was last month. Space time moves differently, apparently.
The explosion happened May 28 during a hot-fire test. It hit days before Blue Origin was due to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites. Amazon is owned by Bezos. Blue Origin is owned by Bezos. Bezos delayed Bezos. The family dinner must be tense.
Limp says his team did in six months what many thought would take years. Six months. To fix the thing they broke in one afternoon.
Retail traders will ask which stock to buy. None. Blue Origin is private. You cannot buy it. You cannot lose money on it. For once, the system is protecting you from yourself.
Go buy a lottery ticket instead. It also launches in January and also explodes on the pad.
Photo by Ellienore B. on Unsplash
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