The first stage of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, named ”Never Tell Me The Odds,” returns to Port Canaveral, United States, on April 19, 2023. The booster is onboard the drone ship Jacklyn, where it landed after a successful launch. This marks the first time Blue Origin is reusing the same first stage. (Photo by Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded Thursday night during a hot-fire test at a Space Force launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Led by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin is working on reusable rockets and launch services to rival those offered by Elon Musk‘s SpaceX. A hot-fire test is conducted on the ground with the rocket engines ignited, while the vehicle is secured to the launch pad.
Bezos said in a post on social network X that all personnel were safe following the explosion.
“All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
The Brevard County Emergency Management office described the incident in a public notice as an “anomaly” which posed “no threat to the general public.”
Musk also responded to the explosion on X, writing: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial space activities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the explosion.
The incident came a day after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised Blue Origin for playing a crucial role in the space agency’s Artemis program, an effort to return American astronauts to the Moon’s surface in 2028.
During a speech Wednesday, he also revealed that NASA awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract to help build a Moon Base.
After the New Glenn exploded on the launch pad Thursday, Isaacman wrote on X that the agency is “aware” of the incident and would “provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” he said.
“We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
