Blue Origin seeks FAA approval to fly New Glenn up to 50 times a year from Cape Canaveral
Blue Origin has asked the FAA to more than quadruple its New Glenn launch limit to 50 a year from Launch Complex 36, with a 68-page draft environmental assessment now open for public comment through October 30.
Blue Origin has asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to fly its New Glenn rocket up to 50 times a year from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, more than quadrupling its current licensed maximum of 12 launches annually.
The FAA has released a 68-page draft environmental assessment of the proposed cadence. It examines up to 100 static-fire engine tests a year, as many as 50 first-stage booster landings on ocean platforms, payload fairing recoveries and temporary airspace closures, and their effects on noise, wildlife, cultural resources and air quality.
The agency identified “unavoidable adverse effects” but said none were judged potentially significant. A virtual public meeting runs 6 to 8 p.m. on October 22; written comments are open through October 30 under Docket No. FAA-2026-9841.
The move follows remarks by chief executive Dave Limp at a Merritt Island space panel on September 28: “We’ve never seen anything like this. And it’s just beginning,” Limp said, predicting 10,000 annual flights from the Cape: “This is going to look a lot more like an airport than it’s going to look like a spaceport. And that’s what we’re shooting for.”
New Glenn, a 320ft rocket built for commercial, civil and national-security payloads, has been grounded since a May 28 pad explosion during a prelaunch engine test. Limp said the company still sees a path to launch this year; last year 109 orbital rockets launched from the Cape, nearly all of them SpaceX.
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