The incident occurred shortly after 9pm local time on Thursday, May 28, as Blue Origin was preparing to fuel its New Glenn rocket ahead of a planned static fire test when the explosion took place, CBS News reports. Following its third successful launch last month, the aerospace firm was readying the rocket for a mission scheduled for June 4, which will mark the fourth for the New Glenn programme.
In footage circulating online, a detonation can be seen emanating from the base of the rocket, before smoke travels up the shaft of the rocket before an explosion towards the pointed tip of the spacecraft. The entire vessel is then engulfed in an enormous, bright yellow plume of flame.
The full extent of damage to the Blue Origin launchpad and associated ground support equipment remains unclear. It is also uncertain what delays the project will face as a result of the explosion.
Jeff Bezos took to X to say: “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. It’s worth it.”
Billionaire SpaceX owner Elon Musk has delivered a damning assessment of Jeff Bezos’ latest space disaster – the explosion of his Blue Origin New Glenn rocket.
Musk simply said: ” Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”
Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin has released a statement regarding the incident.
The official Blue Origin account posted on X: “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
NASA is yet to issue any comment on the matter via social media.