SpaceX Rival Blue Origin Not Out After Rocket Explosion. US Space Force Confirms It Remains Eligible for Core Launch Bidding.

Tradingkey - On June 4, Blue Origin's major explosion did not shake its eligibility to bid for core U.S. military launch projects.

The U.S. Space Force procurement department stated that despite Amazon ( AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin suffering a "New Glenn" rocket launchpad explosion last week, the aerospace company remains eligible for certification in Phase 3 (Lane 2) of the Pentagon’s National Security Space Launch program. It will continue to bid against SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing ( BA) and Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), for U.S. military space launch projects.

The U.S. Space Force explained the core reason for retaining eligibility: the explosion occurred during a ground static fire test prior to launch, not during a certification flight mission, and thus does not trigger automatic disqualification clauses. However, the Space Force emphasized that the full impact of the accident on the certification timeline is still being assessed.

As SpaceX's primary global competitor in the commercial aerospace sector, this rocket explosion represents another major setback for Blue Origin in its pursuit of SpaceX.

Historical data shows that New Glenn has only completed two successful flights to date, with a mission in April experiencing satellite orbital injection deviation issues. The originally scheduled fourth launch has been forced to postpone due to this explosion, leaving significant uncertainty as to whether it can complete certification within the required timeframe and successfully secure military orders.

Currently, Blue Origin has only obtained certification for the less complex Lane 1 program, while the more profitable and technologically demanding "Lane 2" market has long been monopolized by SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. It is reported that Lane 2 satellites primarily serve national defense purposes, such as communications, navigation, missile defense warning, and space environment monitoring.