A Visit to see Blue Origin’s Van Horn Rocket Ranch and
‘Launch Site One’
Some SpaceX fans seem to hate Blue Origin as a kind of Dark
Lord’s counterpoint to jolly Elon’s wizard rocket capers. I think it’s bigger
than that. Human space flight has been stalled for decades and anyone who
pushes it forward gets my vote, even lizard-loving Jeff (if you haven’t seen
the photo, it’s worth Googling).
But it’s true that compared to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster at
Hawthorne, or the Starships down at Boca Chica, Blue
Origin’s launch facility on a ranch near Van Horn (yes, I know, ha ha) isn’t an
obvious visit.
Still, if you’re in the area – maybe to visit Guadalupe
Mountains or Carlsbad Caverns national parks, or even Roswell to the north –
it’s worth checking out. Here I tell you how to find it and what you can see.
History
Maybe my relative enthusiasm for Blue Origin stems from
following its progress when few even realised it existed and a few curious
Texas land purchases were most of the evidence for how the world’s richest
bookseller was spending it.
Of course, Blue went public way back, mainly with the New
Shepard space tourism program that recently launched Captain James T Kirk on a
real-life sub-orbital hop much like Alan Shepard’s original one (am I seeing a
naming convention here?)
In fact, Blue have a big factory
opposite the main gates to the Kennedy Space Centre and a Seattle headquarters
too, but the action is currently confined to New Shepard launches from a remote
ranch in west Texas.
Getting There
Blue’s ranch is in a remote and beautiful valley south of the
Guadalupe mountains, north of the small Texas town of Van Horn and to the east
of Highway 54.
The closest lodging is in Van Horn (pop. 2500), which isn’t
much more than a fuel stop on I-10, but has all the
facilities you need and some decent cheap motels.
Highway 54 starts at a stoplight in Van Horn, heads north and
curves around some scenic desert mountains, then navigates some terrible dips
which may flood (don’t speed at night here, you’ll wreck the car).
Everything of interest comes up about halfway between Van
Horn and the junction with Highway 62 that goes over a pass in the Guadalupe Mtns NP.
Blue Origin’s launch site is off scenic Highway 54.
What to see
You’ll need binoculars, the higher magnification the better
and stabilised if possible; better yet a scope. And be prepared to be hassled
by security if you use it too near the guest ranch.
Entrance to Launch Site One
About 23 miles north of van Horn on Highway 54 you start
seeing the buildings in the distance on the right. Then you’ll come across the
entrance and checkpoint on the right, the only one that isn’t obviously a
cattle ranch.
Back on my first visit in 2016 there were just blue signs
with the numbers ‘35961’ a dirt road and a rudimentary barrier.
Now it’s paved and lit with a checkpoint booth, a Blue Origin
‘Launch Site One’ sign too (early 2022), probably put there for William
Shatner’s launch. There’s an area to pull over and take photos, but take care
because trucks regularly turn in and out.
Note that the current Google Streetview
image is years old and shows none of this.
I asked if there’s a visitor centre or tours. Ah, no...
Entrance in 2022.
Launch site entrance in 2016 (apologies for the poor-quality
images).
Views of the launch site
The best binocular views of the launch site are to be had by
pulling over past the entrance. A photo through my 12x bino’s follow to give
you an idea what to expect – this ain’t SpaceX Boca
Chica! Of course, time it right and you could witness a New Shepard launch,
booster landing and capsule descent (I missed one by a few days).
Launch complex from the highway, including hanger and tanks.
Figure 2 Ranch
This is where we enter the realms of conjecture. Figure 2 is
a historic ranch, established in 1900 (there’s a plaque), north of the Launch
Site entrance. But here’s the thing: it’s a weird ranch. Right now (early 2022)
they are building with heavy equipment - lots of new accommodation and admin’
buildings by the look of it. Lot’s of new structures
since 2020.
There’s an observatory dome too. And check out the key-card
scanner – at a ranch?
I think this is either Blue’s local HQ, a guest ranch for
future space tourists (God knows, there’s nowhere for the idle rich in Van Horn),
or possibly even a home-from-home for the man himself (cf
Musk’s cheap prefab’ at Boca Chica).
You can stop opposite the historic sign and check it out, but
here you’re guaranteed to meet security if you linger (and those dudes look
mean), so keep your engine running and be prepared to scarper like I did!
Figure 2 ranch in 2020.
Detail of observatory and key-card scanner.
New building work in 2022.
Summary
This is an off-piste destination for hardcore space fans.
There’s not much to see without binoculars and you risk a run-in with security.
I’ve long thought Blue lacks SpaceX’s sense of humour and tolerance of fans,
but it’s their loss. Still, seeing what Jeff doesn’t (yet) want you to has its
own special appeal. And there’s no denying it’s a beautiful spot.
Go for the scenery and open roads, stay to spy on a
billionaire’s vanity project gone large.