NASA, Blue Origin Plan New Glenn Tests at Stennis
NASA and Blue Origin plan to conduct second-stage hot-fire testing for the New Glenn rocket at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, with the work targeted to begin in fall 2026.
The agreement announced July 24 gives Blue Origin an additional location to test New Glenn’s upper stage while the company continues recovery and investigation work after a May 28 integrated-vehicle hot-fire anomaly at Launch Complex 36 in Florida.
What the agreement does
NASA and Blue Origin signed an annex to a reimbursable Space Act Agreement covering testing at the B-2 test stand near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. NASA will provide engineers, equipment, building services, workspace and propulsion-testing expertise to help prepare the facility and support operations.
No specific start date has been announced. The planned work is testing, not a completed hot-fire event, and the agreement does not establish a launch date for New Glenn.
New Glenn’s second stage uses two BE-3 engines fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. NASA says each engine produces 200,000 pounds of thrust in a vacuum.
Why New Glenn matters to Artemis
NASA says the testing supports Artemis work aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon and developing a sustained lunar presence. Blue Origin is developing the Blue Moon lunar lander, and NASA says New Glenn will launch missions carrying lunar hardware.
NASA also announced in May that Blue Origin had been selected to launch a robotic mission tied to early Moon Base planning. That mission and other Artemis objectives remain part of a broader program. The Stennis agreement alone does not confirm a successful rocket qualification, a Moon landing date or a Moon Base schedule.
Why Stennis matters
The B-2 test stand was built in the 1960s to test Saturn V stages used during the Apollo program. NASA later used the stand for the Green Run test series of the Space Launch System core stage before Artemis I.
Blue Origin described the Mississippi facility as an additional testbed that can help separate upper-stage testing from launch operations at Launch Complex 36. Regional reporting from WLOX also confirmed that NASA engineers, hardware and technical resources will support the work.
The unresolved May 28 anomaly
On May 28, Blue Origin reported a significant anomaly during an integrated-vehicle hot-fire test at Launch Complex 36. The event was not a launch failure, but it damaged parts of the launch infrastructure.
Blue Origin said the lightning tower, transporter-erector and hydraulic cylinders were lost, while the tank farm, integration facility, vehicle access tower and water tower remained in good condition. The company said hardware recovery and debris removal were complete and reconstruction had begun.
The cause remains under investigation. Blue Origin has said it plans to return New Glenn to flight by the end of 2026, but that is the company’s stated target rather than an independently confirmed schedule.
What to watch next
The next concrete developments will be preparation and equipment work at the B-2 stand, the start of the targeted fall testing, updates on the anomaly investigation and progress toward Blue Origin’s return-to-flight plans.
The partnership expands NASA’s ability to support commercial rocket testing and links Stennis to future Artemis work. It does not, on its own, show that New Glenn is ready for routine flights or guarantee the timing of future lunar missions.
Sources
- NASA announcement on the Stennis testing agreement
- Blue Origin account of the Stennis partnership
- Associated Press report on the May 28 test explosion
Look for updates to this story
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