Blue Origin is moving in next door to SpaceX at Port Canaveral

Blue Origin has been silently working on its next launch vehicle New Glenn for years now and we may be close to seeing its first launch in 2024. As it does with its New Shepard rocket, the company plans on recovering the first stage booster for reuse. While this plan has changed some, scrapping the boat Blue initially intended to land on, recovery of the first stage is still a major part of the New Glenn system. We previously noted on Twitter that Blue Origin had acquired a building complex within Port Canaveral, formerly used by SpaceX, and we now understand that it plans to base its recovery operations there. Now, a new permit shows the next area of the port Blue is looking to call home as it inches closer to the first New Glenn launch.

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Moving into an area just to the north and west of the existing SpaceX recovery operations area, Blue Origin is now mapping out its next Port Canaveral expansion. A new permit is now revealing what the initial plans are for New Glenn’s first stage recovery processing. Blue plans on bringing in a couple of office trailers and will be assembling a tent structure similar to what SpaceX has set up already. The plans also specify a crane that will be located within the site but it is not known at this time if it is just the existing, or soon-to-arrive, mobile crane in use by the Canaveral Port Authority or if Blue Origin will be bringing in its own large crane.

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While the new recovery profile for New Glenn is not well known at this time, considering the company has scrapped the recovery ship and the existing SpaceX landing zones will be gone soon, it is understood that the company will be building out its own barge similar to the ones SpaceX uses.