Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launchpad Testing in Florida
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded during testing at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday evening, sending up a massive fireball and dealing a fresh setback to Jeff Bezos’s space company as it tries to position itself as a rival to SpaceX. Blue Origin said all personnel were accounted for after the blast, and no injuries were reported.
Video of the incident, verified by the Associated Press and aired by several outlets including Bloomberg and CBS News, shows the rocket erupting into flames while on the launch pad. CBS News reported that the explosion happened in Cape Canaveral, while Bloomberg said the vehicle was undergoing a test ahead of its next mission. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos called it a “very rough day,” according to the BBC.
The New Glenn is central to Blue Origin’s effort to become a major launch provider in the increasingly competitive commercial space industry. TechCrunch described the incident as a likely major setback for the company, which has been trying to challenge SpaceX’s dominance with its Falcon 9 and larger launch ambitions. Bloomberg said the rocket was being prepared for its fourth launch, which was expected to carry a batch of satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, the company’s planned internet network designed to compete with Starlink.
The explosion is likely to raise questions about Blue Origin’s development timeline and the reliability of the New Glenn program. While the company has not publicly detailed the cause of the failure in the material available, the fact that the blast happened during testing suggests investigators will now examine what went wrong before the rocket can return to flight.
For Blue Origin, the timing matters because the company has been under pressure to prove that New Glenn can become a dependable heavy-lift rocket. The failure follows years of development and comes as the company is trying to secure a stronger role in launching satellites and other payloads for both its parent company’s ambitions and outside customers.