Meghan Moriarty

The New Glenn rocket explosion may have put Blue Origin launches on hold, but it's not stopping the company from expanding its footprint on the Space Coast.

More than 100 people in Palm Bay Estates were stuck on their street after a drainage pipe finally gave way following heavy rain Wednesday morning.

After last week's Blue Origin explosion on Florida's Space Coast, the head of NASA said he is now considering a different direction to get back to the surface of the moon. That could involve getting a lift from a rival company. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was supposed to launch its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander to the moon later this year. Now, there's talk about possibly changing course in order to stay on track. “We are also decoupling the lander from the launch vehicle and launch pad itself," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during remarks Thursday. "What does that mean? It means NASA is laser-focused on the lander because we're laser-focused on our mission to return astronauts to the surface of the moon before 2028, and we're going to be able to keep that lander in development and progressing so that it's ready for our test mission in 2027, which will be Artemis III, and potentially to meet our landing objectives in 2028.” Don Platt, the director of spaceport education at Florida Tech, has experience developing, testing, and flying different types of avionics, communications, and rocket-propulsion systems. He said that NASA will want Blue Origin to at least continue with its current pace of development and testing of the lander. “On the simplest level, it would mean that they will not allow Blue Origin to take a lot of resources away from the lunar program to get the New Glenn vehicle back up and running and the launch pad operational again,” Platt said. “(...) We could look at it on a deeper level and say that they may then look at alternatives for launching the Blue Origin lander, especially to make it ready for an Artemis III Earth orbit." If a different rocket is used, Blue Origin would need to make changes to its lander. Different vehicles have different interfaces, so it would take additional time, money, and engineering to make that happen, according to Platt. In an interview with WESH 2 News earlier this week, Greg Autry, who specializes in space commercialization and strategy at the University of Central Florida, said something similar. “One of the options, if New Glenn can't fly soon, is to put the Blue Origin Mark 1 lander on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket or ULA Vulcan,” Autry said. >>Previous coverage in video below: Blue Origin begins investigation into New Glenn explosion A NASA spokesperson said the agency had no further information beyond the statement about separating the lander from the vehicle and launch pad. Isaacman also made an additional statement on X, saying NASA is very focused on assisting Blue Origin with the root-cause analysis, pad recovery, and advancement of the lunar lander. WESH 2 reporter Meghan Moriarty asked Platt whether he thinks SpaceX and Blue Origin would work together to do this. “I think if NASA is paying the bills and telling them that they have to, yes, I think so then,” Platt said. “Especially, like Isaacman said, they're laser-focused on this.”

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has awarded its 2026 scholars. The program celebrates the best and brightest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."The scholarship foundation has grown into an organization that gives 70 scholarships each year. We have two of those each year," John Nicklow said. "We are incredibly honored. Other universities on that list are MIT, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins and others. So, we're very proud to be part of that list."The 2026 Florida Tech winners are Carys Daly, who is studying mechanical engineering, and Damien Koons, who is majoring in physics."It embodies the shared values between the institution and the scholarship foundation — some of our best and brightest people who have ambition and hard work instilled in them and are motivated to do well in their careers," Nicklow said.To learn more about the program, WESH 2 spoke with last year's recipients, who have now been in the ASF program for a year.Peyton Hay and Sloan Hatter graduated in May. As scholars, they each received a $15,000 scholarship and were paired with a mentor. They also traveled to the Johnson Space Center and met several astronauts there."It's kind of opened my eyes a bit to the possibility of, 'Oh, I'm meeting these astronauts, maybe I can go that route,' especially with the Air Force," Hatter said. "They usually pick people from that background. So, I think it just opened my eyes to possibilities."Hatter is working full-time right now and plans to join the Air Force. She graduated with a degree in computer science and computational mathematics.The ASF program is meant to help guide students pursuing degrees in STEM fields."It benefits society," Hay said. "I mean, everything they're doing spans from healthcare to space to defense, and it really is beneficial to everyone."Hay graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He is attending graduate school in the fall in Michigan, where he will continue studying electrical engineering and applied electromagnetics.In total, there have been 992 astronaut scholars since 1986. One of the most notable ASF alumnae is Christina Koch, an Artemis II mission specialist.

Residents of Palm Bay Estates are calling for city assistance to address a collapsed roadway in their community, which they say has been a concern for months.

A Palm Bay man showed up to a traffic stop in a full suit and tie and allegedly told police he was the driver's lawyer. He looked the part, but he wasn't one.

A Brevard County woman is in jail after allegedly admitting to driving toward a group of kids as "target practice."

WESH 2 spoke exclusively with Brian Hughes, the new director of Launch Operations at Kennedy Space Center. Over the next year, the hope is to increase not only the number of launches you see in a week, but to keep up the momentum and excitement around space exploration.

Everhome Living plans to build 94 luxury townhomes in Cape Canaveral, offering rooftop viewing pads for rocket launches near Kennedy Space Center.

Thaddeus, a dog found injured in Palm Bay, is recovering after being shot in the head, and Brevard County deputies are asking for the public's help to find the suspect.