Blue Origin's Cape Campus is rapidly evolving, gearing up for the production of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and upcoming vehicle upgrades. Recent aerial imagery reveals a second-stage tank installed in the 2CAT building, indicating progress in second-stage manufacturing. This is crucial for achieving a sustainable launch cadence. The 2CAT building, currently operating without its main door, offers a rare glimpse into the facility. Blue Origin has also consolidated plans for a major campus expansion, merging six structures into a single enormous building, reflecting ambitious long-term production goals. Additional construction includes an expansion of the main factory for composites manufacturing, potentially for New Glenn's large payload fairings, which may grow even larger in future iterations. A new metal-forming facility is fully enclosed, and foundation work has begun for the Hardware Integration Facility, which will serve as one of the final assembly points before hardware is transported to the launch pad. At Launch Complex 36, the first stage of the New Glenn vehicle that flew the rocket's second mission has returned for refurbishment after a successful landing. The booster now shares the Horizontal Integration Facility with upper stages for the next two flights, creating visible space constraints. Blue Origin has moved first- and second-stage simulators outdoors, where they are plainly visible from the air. The company has not yet announced whether the flight-proven booster will be reused on the upcoming third mission or held in reserve pending inspection results and production of new boosters. Payload plans for flight three are also fluid, with speculation that it could carry Blue Origin's Mk1 lunar lander prototype, though alternative missions are possible depending on customer availability. Blue Origin recently confirmed a series of significant enhancements to the New Glenn architecture, now formally designated "New Glenn 7×2" (seven BE-4 engines on the first stage, two on the second). Near-term upgrades include propellant subcooling to increase tank capacity and overall performance, as well as higher engine thrust. Evidence of subcooling preparations has been accumulating for months, with new nitrogen infrastructure, subcooling units delivered to the pad, and site-clearing adjacent to the liquid oxygen tank farm. Two new large cranes have also appeared on site, one near the hydrogen tank farm and another close to the Blue Moon lunar lander test area. Perhaps most notably, Blue Origin unveiled plans for a substantially larger and more powerful variant dubbed New Glenn 9×4. The new configuration will feature nine BE-4 engines on the first stage and four on the second stage, along with an increased vehicle height for greater propellant volume and payload capacity. Official renderings depict the 9×4 vehicle launching from the existing LC-36 pad, but Blue Origin also controls the adjacent LC-12 site to the north, leaving open the possibility of constructing a second dedicated launch complex optimized for the upgraded rocket. With production accelerating, facilities expanding rapidly, and major vehicle upgrades on the horizon, Blue Origin appears poised to significantly increase both the capability and flight rate of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket in the coming years.
