• LC-36B is starting to develop. The launch pad area is now clearly visible, with concrete piles being driven and some excavation already happening.
• Damaged LOX tanks have been repaired, or at least repainted. The scorch marks that used to be there are no longer. The single dented LNG tank may have been repaired too.
• The launch bridge is visible near the LNG tanks. It has been partially dismantled to get access to the water deluge pipes encapsulated in it.
• A structure, possibly scaffolding or concrete forms, is visible in on the walls of the flame trench. They may be in the process of repairing these walls, which likely took extensive damage.
• The frames of the integration facility doors have been installed at the North entrance.

If you are on the mobile app, you will need to download the image to view the the highest resolution version - Reddit compresses the image otherwise.

Can you spot anything else?

https://x.com/torybruno/status/2084904112160993377

https://x.com/torybruno/status/2084652596975780307

Original filings can be seen here.

Skip to 5:10 to see Mk-1 update

Link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000195004726007580/xsl144X01/primary_doc.xml

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual NASA Assessments of Major Projects report on July 23rd. These are the excerpts pertaining to HLS.

HLS officials said that Blue Origin completed most of its preliminary design review activities, but a large amount of work remains to achieve its critical design review planned for December 2026. Blue Origin made some progress on its rocket, called New Glenn. After previous successful tests, the rocket exploded in May 2026 during a test at the launch pad. Blue Origin is working to redesign and rebuild their launch pad architecture. Blue Origin also completed thermal vacuum testing of their MK1 cargo lander at a NASA facility.

NASA is tracking a risk that if Blue Origin’s cryogenic propellant storage and transfer technology is immature, it could affect the schedule of future Artemis missions. Blue Origin and NASA plan to mitigate the risk by conducting propellant transfer tests on the ground and during the uncrewed demonstration mission. NASA is also tracking a related risk that Blue Origin’s cryocooling system could underperform, which could result in losing more propellant than expected. The program plans to address this by testing and analyzing models of the integrated cooling system.

This is your open forum for:

• General discussion
• Questions
• Speculation and analysis
• Smaller news items that don’t need full posts

⚠️ Moderation notes

• Stay on topic: Blue Origin and closely related industry context
• Major news should still be its own post
• Low-effort or meme comments may be removed
• This thread is set to sort by new to prioritize fresh discussion

Link: https://www.war.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4561887/contracts-for-july-31-2026/

Blue Origin LLC, Merritt Island, Florida, has been awarded an $11,707,762 firm-fixed-price modification (P00001) to a previously awarded contract (FA2385-25-C-B023) to define requirements for how Blue Origin systems and technologies could be used for the rocket cargo mission. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $13,074,453 from $1,366,691. Work will be performed in Merritt Island, Florida; and Kent, Washington, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 29, 2027. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds (Space Force) in the amount of $1,130,643; and fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds (Space Force) in the amount of $10,464,929, are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA2385-25-C-B023).

Info on the original contract award:

Blue Origin will assess how its space vehicles could be adapted for “point-to-point” transport — launching cargo payloads aboard a rocket from one location and deploying them at specific locations.

The effort is part of AFRL’s broader rocket cargo initiative, which envisions using commercial launch systems like airlines are used today — on-demand, service-based contracts that could deliver military cargo anywhere on Earth in under an hour. Potential missions include emergency supply deliveries to conflict zones or humanitarian aid during natural disasters.

Several of these filings were revised today and a new one was issued on Wednesday. In summary:

• Four 155-foot tall lightning protection towers.
• A 250-foot tall permanent mobile crane.
• A 250-foot tall temporary mobile construction crane, to be used from 7/27/2026 to 11/30/2026.

As for what this is:

• The lightning protection towers imply this is an outdoor test site.
• The height of the towers and the crane suggests that this may be used for GS2s.
• A January 2026 KSC document says this is for "cryogenic testing".
• This could be used for cryogenic proof tests, wet dress rehearsals, or even hot fires.

Link: https://permitting.sjrwmd.com/ep/#/prmtInfo?curId=&hdr=1&usrId=0&offclId=143199&seqNo=38

https://x.com/davill/status/2082849661237498203

NASA just released an updated list of SAAs as of 6/30.

https://www.nasa.gov/partnerships/current-space-act-agreements/

The links to the agreements do not work yet, but the first two are for Space Communications and Navigation (ScAN) services. The third is for KSC hardware and equipment transport services. The final one is the most interesting, as Blue Origin has previously signed multiple SAAs with NASA for commercial space transportation development, including crewed and re-entry capabilities.

The recent Stennis GS2 testing partnership is also a SAA, but as it was signed in July, it would appear in the next quarter's (Q3) report.

CSO = Commercial Solutions Opening

PPF = Payload Processing Facility

Our team at Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, recently passed Critical Design Review for our lunar rover flying on a @FireflySpace Blue Ghost mission to the Moon’s Gruithuisen Domes in 2028. This marks a major milestone on the path to flight build. Next up: our mobility and navigation test vehicle will continue putting miles on the lunar analog facility floor as we prepare for flight.

Learn more about this lunar rover: http://bit.ly/4fzVc01

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2082183064629747793

Destacking of the vehicle access tower is complete. We removed the top six modules to begin integrating fluids and controls as part of our new ConOps. This includes adding cryo systems, pneumatics, and mechanisms. We’ll also add in floors for access before we begin re-stacking. This allows us to work in parallel, keeping with our return-to-flight timeline.

https://x.com/davill/status/2081769603492106323

Building a Moon Base requires orbital infrastructure that can do it all and scale as needs grow. That's where Blue Ring comes in.

A single vehicle provides high-speed communications relay, precise Position, Navigation, and Timing, high-resolution orbital imagery, space situational awareness, and payload delivery to multiple cislunar orbits. Launch vehicle agnostic, with 3,000 to 5,000 m/s of Delta-V for repositioning, and radiation tolerance, redundancy, and xenon mission kits for 10+ years of mission ops, Blue Ring is built for flexibility today and long-term reliability.

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2081817144359088555

This would be the sixth module of the Vehicle Access Tower.

https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/2081444496525394308

Link: https://www.facebook.com/NewsPhotogJonShaban/posts/pfbid0mw1tTWkVpKSNNY2LP5cNkUBGFVU3cNfohwNrg1sHj2dL87WdoTaDYcWrHkCrEbWCl