Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes on launchpad during test
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin suffered a significant setback on Thursday when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, during a hot-fire test, Reuters reports.
Video posted by NASASpaceflight and cited by Reuters showed the New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad at around 9 PM ET before erupting into a large fireball.
Blue Origin confirmed it had experienced an "anomaly" during the test, in which a rocket engine is fired while anchored to the ground. All personnel were accounted for, the company said, and an investigation is underway.
The explosion occurred during preparations for New Glenn's fourth launch, which was meant to carry 48 Amazon LEO satellites to low-Earth orbit as part of Bezos' effort to build a broadband network competing with SpaceX's Starlink. Reuters cited a source familiar with the matter as saying the satellites had not yet been integrated onto the rocket when the incident occurred.
Jeff Bezos said on X that it's still too early to determine the root cause, but that the company will "rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying."
