Blue Origin Rocket Explodes During Florida Test

A New Glenn rocket built by billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded on a Florida launchpad during a ground test on Thursday. The incident is a further setback for the project, which is meant to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets.

The explosion occurred during a hot-fire engine test ahead of the rocket’s planned fourth launch. New Glenn had been due to carry 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, but they were not on board at the time of the accident.

“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it”, Bezos said in a post on X. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

The incident came two days after NASA awarded Blue Origin a $188m contract to land rovers on the moon. The agency said it would support an investigation into the accident and assess any impact on its Artemis program.

(reuters, lud)