# U.S. Geological Survey

Type: Company

Source: Space & Defense Intelligence Brief — https://getspacebrief.com/entity/us-geological-survey-company
Canonical HTML page: https://getspacebrief.com/entity/us-geological-survey-company

## Timeline

- **2026-08-31**: Expected readiness of updated valve hardware — Blue Origin anticipates manufacturing the modified valve hardware and completing fault tree analysis.
- **2026-08-06**: CEO Dave Limp announces root cause — Blue Origin identifies the valve as the culprit and announces a planned fix, with updated hardware expected by end of August.
- **2026-05-28**: Pad explosion during static fire test — A main oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine fails during a static fire, destroying the New Glenn vehicle and severely damaging Launch Complex 36.
- **2026-04**: Third New Glenn launch — The rocket completes its third mission in April 2026, continuing to build launch heritage.
- **2025**: First two New Glenn launches — Blue Origin successfully launches New Glenn twice in 2025, demonstrating initial operational capability.

## Recent coverage (1 stories)

### New Glenn Valve Failure Caused 2.5-Magnitude Blast, Blue Origin CEO Reveals
2026-08-07 15:51:19 · Sentiment: Negative · Impact: 6/10 · Sources: 2

Blue Origin pinpoints a BE-4 engine's oxygen valve as the cause of the May 28 pad explosion that destroyed its New Glenn rocket. The fix is expected by end of August, but pad rebuild and mission delays cloud the heavy-lifter's manifest for national security and commercial customers.
Full story: https://getspacebrief.com/story/blue-origin-new-glenn-valve-explosion-investigation

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