Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Florida Test

Massive Fireball Engulfs Launch Facility

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded on a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday night during a hot-fire test around 9 p.m. EDT . Videos showed the 322-foot-tall New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad before erupting into a bright orange ball of fire, engulfing the surrounding area and shaking nearby homes . The 188-foot-tall first stage became enveloped in a rapidly growing fire and moments later, the 86-foot-tall upper stage could be seen tilting and starting to fall as the first stage apparently began collapsing, before the vehicle suddenly exploded as its load of methane fuel and liquid oxygen ignited in a roiling fireball .

No injuries were reported, and officials said the public was not at risk, with all personnel accounted for and safe . The rocket was likely fully fueled, contributing to what is one of the largest rocket explosions in U.S. history and the worst failure in Blue Origin's existence . Blue Origin only has one New Glenn pad, the one that was damaged in the Thursday test .

Amazon Satellite Mission Derailed

Blue Origin was gearing up for a June launch to put a batch of Amazon "Leo" internet satellites into orbit, with the destroyed rocket set to send 48 Leo internet satellites owned by Amazon into space . The mission, dubbed Leo New Glenn 1, is the first of 24 launches Amazon has booked with Blue Origin . Amazon said its satellites were never integrated with the New Glenn rocket and remain secure at its nearby processing facility .

The Leo system, using a variety of rockets, will compete with Musk's Starlink satellites to provide high speed space-based internet service to users anywhere in the world . Amazon said its Leo launch plans remain unchanged, and the company opened up Leo beta access to enterprises in November, eyeing a commercial launch in the third quarter of this year .

NASA Partnership at Risk

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, and revealed that NASA awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract to help build a Moon Base . The New Glenn also plays a key role in NASA's Artemis moon program, with NASA's next Artemis mission scheduled for launch next year to test rendezvous and docking procedures in low-Earth orbit using moon landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin .

After the explosion, Isaacman wrote 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" . This explosion comes after a third flight on April 19 left a commercial satellite stranded in the wrong orbit after a fault in the rocket's upper stage, forcing the FAA to ground the vehicle while it investigated, with Blue Origin blaming a bad engine for the issue .

Long Road to Recovery

Bezos confirmed that "Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it," adding it was "too early to know the root cause" of what happened . Elon Musk responded to the explosion, writing: "Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard" . It was the first such on-pad explosion at the Cape since a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blew up on nearby pad 40 on Sept. 1, 2016, with Falcon 9's not returning to flight for three-and-a-half months and the pad out of action for more than a year .

An astrophysicist described the incident as "huge damage" with "the whole launch facility has gone," expecting it will "take many, many months to get back on board and then for the FAA to re-clear this, because this is a mishap" . The explosion represents a significant setback for Blue Origin's ambitious plans to compete with SpaceX's dominance in the commercial space industry, potentially delaying critical missions for both Amazon's satellite constellation and NASA's lunar exploration program.