BLUE ORIGIN/CCSFSLAUNCHJun 1, 2026
Cape Canaveral: Blue Origin's launch pad in ruins
Four days after the New Glenn explosion, the damage is being tallied. Blue Origin's only orbital launch pad at Cape Canaveral is practically destroyed: the mobile tower that carries the rocket to launch has collapsed, and with it one of the two lightning towers. Industry sources estimate at least six months of stoppage, up to two years in worst-case scenarios, while the company's second pad at the Cape is still under construction and won't be ready in time. With no alternatives, every Blue Origin lunar mission slips forward, starting with the Blue Moon cargo flight planned for fall.
NASA/HQVISIONJun 1, 2026
Artemis III now depends solely on SpaceX
With New Glenn grounded, the balance of the lunar race shifts. Blue Origin was SpaceX's backup for Artemis III, the docking test in Earth orbit set for 2027: its Blue Moon lander was supposed to meet the Orion capsule alongside Starship. That plan is now at risk. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced he will assess the impact on the entire Artemis program and on the Moon Base lunar city. Space analysts say it is unlikely Blue Origin can still take part in Artemis III. Only Elon Musk's Starship remains in play, and it is still in testing.
BLUE ORIGIN/CCSFSLAUNCHMay 29, 2026
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes
A fireball rewrote the plans over Cape Canaveral. It was 9 p.m. Florida time on May 28, 2026 when Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during the static fire, the engine ignition test that precedes launch. The booster and second stage are lost and a lightning tower fell, but personnel are safe and the Amazon satellites expected on June 4 were not yet on board. Bezos admits the cause is unknown. The blow slows the lunar march: New Glenn is meant to carry the Blue Moon lander and the Artemis rovers.
Imagery · Orion-CAM 03
DESTINATION — the lunar south pole
Artemis IV · landing zone · ice-rich PSR
NASA/HQVISIONMay 28, 2026
Pegasus and CLV-1: NASA picks the Artemis rovers
NASA has selected the two crewed rovers that will carry Artemis astronauts across the lunar south pole. On May 26, 2026, the agency awarded Lunar Outpost $220 million for Pegasus and Venturi Astrolab $219 million for CLV-1. Pegasus, evolved from the Eagle prototype, can drive autonomously or manually at over 9 mph for up to a year. CLV-1, adapted from the FLEX architecture, weighs about 2,000 pounds and reaches 6 mph on level ground. Both must be on the Moon by 2028. The astronauts' wheels are no longer a sketch.
NASA/HQVISIONMay 28, 2026
Moon Base I, II, III: three landers, one goal
The first three Moon Base missions, three cargo flights that will pave the way for the astronauts. Moon Base I launches in fall 2026 on Blue Origin's Endurance, the first privately funded lunar lander mission in history, headed for Shackleton Connecting Ridge. Moon Base II follows in July with Astrobotic's Griffin, carrying Astrolab's FLIP rover. Moon Base III flies on Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Trinity with the Lunar Vertex experiment to study the mysterious lunar swirls, plus payloads from ESA and Korea. The base is starting to take shape.
NASA/HQVISIONMay 28, 2026
Artemis III crew: names revealed June 9
NASA has set the date: on June 9, 2026, at 11 a.m. EDT, from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the four astronauts who will fly Artemis III will be announced. The mission, scheduled for mid-2027, will not land on the Moon. It will be an Earth orbit test flight at 463 km altitude where the Orion capsule will rehearse rendezvous and docking with SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Origin's Blue Moon lunar landers. The launch follows the successful Artemis II flight last April. The Artemis Generation is about to get its faces.
Imagery · Orion-CAM 03
SOUTH POLE — candidate terrain for the first landing
13 regions · peaks of eternal light · frozen water
Receiving new transmissions…
