Blue Origin says New Glenn flies again in November, into a Cape with no other launch date
Blue Origin has told Aviation Week that New Glenn will fly again in November, months earlier than the industry expected, into a Cape with no other firm launch date. The company is private, so the exposure runs through its customers' calendars: AST SpaceMobile, Amazon and NASA.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The date moved to November; the tower is the evidence
Blue Origin has told Aviation Week that New Glenn, its heavy-lift rocket, will fly again in November, months earlier than the end-December or January 2027 return the industry expected 1. The evidence is hardware.
Chief executive Dave Limp declared the 430-foot Vehicle Access Tower at Launch Complex 36 "fully assembled, with every module repaired" on October 24, five months after a May 28 static-fire explosion destroyed a New Glenn rocket and wrecked the pad 12. The blast was traced to a main oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine, one of seven that power New Glenn's first stage 23.
The Cape empties while California takes the lead
SpaceX−3.25% — SpaceX, down 3.25 percent today flew Florida's last launch on October 20, the state's 60th of the year against a record 109 in 2025, and launch vice president Kiko Dontchev has announced a pause of at least six weeks to prepare Starship's Florida debut 4. United Launch Alliance's Vulcan has been grounded since a February booster anomaly, and the FAA's advisory listed nothing in Florida as of October 27 4. California, absorbing the Starlink missions SpaceX moved west, logged its 72nd launch of 2026 on October 27, its first lead over Florida since the 1970s 5.
California passes Florida in launches for the first time since the 1970s
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| California 2026 | 72 |
| Florida 2026 | 60 |
| Florida 2025, full year | 109 |
The only date left on the Cape belongs to a rocket that exploded on its own pad in May.
Three customers wait on one date
Blue Origin is private, so the money moves through its customers' calendars. AST SpaceMobile−1.60% — AST SpaceMobile, down 1.60 percent today (Nasdaq: ASTS), whose satellites connect ordinary phones with no cell tower, had 13 in orbit on August 5 against the 45 needed for continuous service 6. Falcon 9 lifts three per flight, New Glenn eight, so the grounding turned four missions into eleven, pushed the 45-satellite target into early 2027 and forced a $1.15 billion convertible-notes raise in July 6.
Amazon's−0.13% — Amazon, down 0.13 percent today Leo broadband constellation is booked on both grounded rockets, Vulcan and New Glenn 5. Amazon says it is weeks from a Vulcan flight 7; ULA has published no return date 5; both lanes of the queue are undated. The rocket destroyed in May was being readied to launch 48 Leo satellites, which were safe in another facility 3. Amazon has built 1,000, has 396 in orbit unchanged since July, and lost FCC spectrum priority after missing a July 30 milestone of 1,616, meaning its satellites must now avoid interfering with Starlink 7.
Amazon has built 1,000 Leo satellites and flown 396
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Built | 1,000 |
| In orbit | 396 |
| FCC July 30 milestone | 1,616 |
| Gen-1 constellation | 3,232 |
November is a report; December is the schedule
NASA's reworked Artemis 3, a crewed lunar test mission, opens with New Glenn carrying the Blue Moon Mark 2 test lander into orbit, one of three heavy-lift rockets flying from Florida within two weeks, best case summer 2027 and three months behind administrator Jared Isaacman's own agency-wide memo 8.
Blue Origin's official line remains return to flight before the end of 2026, with no launch date confirmed 1, and SpaceNews reports the rebuilt pad ready only by the first half of December 9. Watch the hardware first: New Glenn's stages mated horizontally, then lifted by crane onto LC-36 2. Then watch the paperwork: a firm date on the FAA calendar, which lists nothing in Florida today 4.
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