Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lit up the night sky over Cape Canaveral last night, exploding during a routine ground test a 9PM local time.
The setback has raised questions about whether billionaire Jeff Bezos’ SpaceX rival, Blue Origin, can deliver on its lunar commitments to NASA.
It was announced just last week that Blue Origin had been awarded a contract by NASA to carry out the first stage mission in the construction of the United States’ planned Moon base.
Initially targeted for launch no later than autumn 2026, that timeline has now been thrown into doubt by the latest failure.
Addressing the incident, Blue Origin commented on social media: “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Company founder Jeff Bezos meanwhile described it as a “very rough day”.
“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,” Mr Bezos said, adding, “it’s worth it”.
Extensive damage appears to have been done to the launchpad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, with some experts predicting that repairs to the site – specially designed to host the New Glenn rocket – could take months.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that the organisation was “aware of the anomaly that occurred tonight at Launch Complex 36 involving Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station”.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. 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.
“We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available,” Mr Isaacman said.