The May 28 explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 36 did more than destroy a rocket and severely damage a launch pad. The event highlighted the fragility of launch in the United States today. The sharp increase in launches has strained existing spaceports to their breaking points, yet it seems harder than ever to get a launch as new vehicles suffer development delays or, like New Glenn, explosive setbacks.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...