Jeff Bezos’ space venture suffered a dramatic launchpad explosion during a hot-fire test, delaying plans to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in lunar and satellite missions.
An uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket erupted into a fireball during a test on Thursday, in a significant setback for Jeff Bezos’ space venture. Video posted online by NASASpaceflight showed the rocket igniting on the pad at around 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT Friday) before detonating, sending flames and smoke towering into the sky.
Blue Origin described the event as an “anomaly”, a standard term used in the space industry to indicate a test failure or explosion. “All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more,” the company said in a post on X.
A hot-fire test involves firing a rocket’s engines while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency was aware of the explosion.
“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,” he said on X.
NASA confirmed it would assess any impacts to Artemis lunar missions and Moon Base plans. Earlier this week, the agency awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract to deliver rovers to the lunar surface using its uncrewed Mark 1 cargo lander.
Jeff Bezos commented on X that it was “too early to know the root cause” of the explosion. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” he said.
Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are competing to support lunar missions and expand satellite networks. SpaceX, which is preparing for its IPO, has also experienced dramatic test failures, including last year’s Starship explosion in Texas.
Most recently, SpaceX partially succeeded in its 12th Starship test flight, deploying mock satellites but failing to land the Super Heavy booster. Musk reacted to Blue Origin’s test failure on X, stating: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”
Blue Origin had been preparing the New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon LEO satellites into low-Earth orbit, aiming to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.
The company has spent roughly a decade and billions of dollars developing New Glenn, a 29-storey rocket with a reusable first stage intended to rival SpaceX’s Falcon fleet and Starship.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it was aware of the incident but said it fell outside its regulatory scope and posed no impact to air traffic in the region.
Russian oil company Lukoil plans to expand its activities in Uzbekistan, with potential areas including geological exploration, hydroca...
International cooperation, lunar exploration and the growing role of artificial intelligence dominated the third day of a major astronautical ...
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has said Georgia is a candidate country “only on paper,” prompting a rapid response fro...
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted.
Russia struck Ukraine overnight in one of the biggest attacks of the conflict, killing at least 19 people, Kyiv's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Around 70 missiles were fired at Ukraine during the attack, as well as drones, the Ministry said.
An Azerbaijani citizen died and another is missing after a cargo ship was attacked by a drone in the Black Sea, near the coast of Romania on Monday, 5 October, Baku's Foreign Ministry has said.
A large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region has killed two people, damaged homes and sparked a major fire at a key fuel facility, according to Russian officials and military bloggers.
The German-Azerbaijani Connectivity Conference 2026 commenced on 6 October in Baku under the title “Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure, Transport, Logistics, Green Energy, and Digitalisation along the Middle Corridor.”
International cooperation, lunar exploration and the growing role of artificial intelligence dominated the third day of a major astronautical conference now underway in Antalya.
Armenian authorities have frozen a wide range of assets belonging to billionaire businessman and opposition politician Gagik Tsarukyan as part of proceedings linked to the confiscation of property allegedly acquired illegally.
Azerbaijan has sent another batch of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, consisting of electrical equipment vital for restoring the country’s energy infrastructure and preparing for the winter season.
Russia struck Ukraine overnight in one of the biggest attacks of the conflict, killing at least 19 people, Kyiv's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Around 70 missiles were fired at Ukraine during the attack, as well as drones, the Ministry said.
An investigation into August Hanning, the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has no connection to Azerbaijan, informed sources have told AnewZ.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment