Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin said Thursday it experienced an anomaly during a hot-fire test of its New Glenn rocket in Florida.
In a post on X, the company said all workers have been accounted for. “We will provide updates as we receive more information,” it added.
Meanwhile, visuals on social media showed the rocket turning into a ball of fire. Hot-fire testing involves firing a rocket engine while it is resting on the ground.
Bezos vows to fly again
Blue Origin’s owner said the company has launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
“It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos wrote on Twitter.
Blue Origin has invested billions of dollars over the past decade developing the New Glenn, a 29-story rocket with a reusable first stage. It is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon fleet and its more powerful Starship.
In April, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered Blue Origin to investigate the failure of the second stage of its giant New Glenn rocket.
NASA wants to support the sample
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said his agency was aware of New Glenn’s “anomaly”.
“Space flight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is exceptionally difficult,” he wrote on X.
“We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and launch rockets,” he said.
According to Isaacman, NASA will provide information about any impacts to the Artemis and Moon base programs as they become available.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are racing to design lunar landers that NASA will use to return people to the Moon.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico
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