Blue Origin Plans $600M Florida Factory Expansion Amid New Glenn Explosion

Blue Origin is moving ahead with a $600 million expansion on Florida’s Space Coast after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared the company’s New Glenn rocket to fly again following an investigation into its launch in April 2026. However, the rocket has since been involved in a launch pad explosion during a test on May 28.

Blue Origin’s Project Horizon

The project, known as Project Horizon, lists Space Florida as a co-applicant and will add a manufacturing building at Exploration Park on Merritt Island near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The roughly 830,000-square-foot development covers 60 acres and will produce upper stages for Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets. These rockets are built at Blue Origin’s Rocket Park facility before being transported to Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for launches.

The expansion is expected to create 500 aerospace jobs with average salaries above $98,000. Since 2015, the company has grown to nearly 4,000 employees in Florida and spent more than $2.3 billion with 500 suppliers in the state. The St. Johns River Water Management District approved a permit for the site’s stormwater system in March 2026.

FAA Approves Return to Flight

The FAA has closed its investigation into Blue Origin’s third New Glenn mission and approved the rocket to return to flight. During the launch on April 19, the rocket’s first-stage booster landed successfully on the company’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, but the upper stage didn’t quite manage to put AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite into its planned orbit.

The FAA found that a cryogenic leak froze a hydraulic line during the second-stage engine burn, causing a thrust issue. According to the agency, Blue Origin identified nine corrective actions to be completed before the next New Glenn launch.

Update: New Glenn Launch Pad Explosion

On May 28, 2026, a New Glenn rocket was destroyed during a hot-fire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when it exploded on the launch pad. The vehicle was preparing for a June mission to carry Amazon’s Project Kuiper (“Leo”) satellites, which were not onboard at the time.

No injuries were reported, but the incident caused significant damage to the launch pad, and Blue Origin is now investigating the cause. It’s unclear how the explosion will affect the rocket’s return-to-flight timeline following the FAA’s approval.

Image credit: Blue Origin, credit: Thomas for Industry