Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has lamented a ‘very rough day’ after his $100 million (£74 million) rocket exploded during a routine test.
The New Glenn rocket erupted into a giant fireball while undergoing a ‘hotfire test’ on Launch Pad 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Bezos said it is ‘too early to know the root cause’ of the anomaly, which sent flames and debris exploding high into the sky.
The rocket, which measures 320 feet (98 metres) tall, has been designed to launch 48 Amazon satellites into low–Earth orbit.
But there are concerns the catastrophic failure could now have repercussions for NASA‘s Artemis moon mission.
Blue Origin was recently awarded the contract for NASA’s moon lander, with expectations that it will launch on one of its rockets later this year.
This is a crucial step in building a permanent ‘city on the moon’, as the main purpose of the lander is to carry cargo and scientific equipment to the lunar surface.
‘We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available,’ said Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator.
The New Glenn rocket erupted into a giant fireball while undergoing a ‘hotfire test’ on Launch Pad 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The explosion caused debris to rain down and sparks to fly over the coast
The test, which took place in the early hours of this morning (UK time), appeared to start normally with the launch pad lighting up and smoke coming out of the engines
The test, which took place in the early hours of this morning (UK time), appeared to start normally with the launch pad lighting up and smoke coming out of the engines.
But it soon turned to disaster when the bottom of the spacecraft exploded into a ball of fire that soon consumed the entire rocket and later the entire launch pad.
Fortunately, there were no reported injuries in the explosion, and Brevard County Emergency Management officials said there was no threat to the general public.
‘All personnel are accounted for and safe,’ Bezos wrote on X. ‘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.’
Elon Musk, who founded rival company SpaceX, commented ‘Ad astra per aspera’, which loosely translates to ‘to the stars through difficulties’.
Static tests such as this are carried out to ensure everything runs smoothly on launch day, which has been slated to be as early as June 4.
However, repairs will likely take months to complete.
The 320–foot tall New Glenn rocket was expected to soon launch 48 Amazon Leo broadband satellites into low–Earth orbit
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos lamented a ‘very rough day’ after his $100 million rocket exploded during a routine test
Under the plans for the Artemis III mission, scheduled to launch next year, NASA astronauts would practice docking their Orion capsule with landers from both Blue Origin and SpaceX while remaining in orbit.
But with the destruction of the launchpad, Blue Origin may not be able to participate.
A smaller Blue Origin robotic lunar lander, known as Blue Moon Mark I, was also scheduled to launch later this year on a New Glenn rocket.
On Tuesday, NASA also announced it had awarded contracts to Blue Origin for two New Glenn rockets to take rovers to the moon in 2028, for astronauts to drive during the Artemis IV and Artemis V moon missions.
Mr Isaacman has vowed to work with Blue Origin in its investigation.
‘Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy–lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,’ he posted on X.
‘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.’
The disaster comes weeks after the New Glenn rocket failed a mission to deliver a communications satellite into the correct orbit, prompting an investigation.
‘We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available,’ said Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator
Although the company successfully reused and recovered a booster for the rocket, the uncrewed mission did not deliver the satellite from the company AST SpaceMobile.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in response that it required Blue Origin to conduct a ‘mishap investigation’, which was completed earlier this month.
‘The FAA has approved our NG–3 report, and corrective measures have been implemented,’ Blue Origin said last week, explaining that thermal conditions caused one of the rocket’s engines to not achieve its full thrust, causing it to miss its target orbit.
