Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Fails in Launchpad Test, Hitting Major Setback for Bezos’ Venture vs SpaceX

An uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on Thursday during a test launch. The explosion occurred at about 2100 ET when the rocket ignited on the pad before erupting into a massive fireball, sending flames and smoke skyward.

Blue Origin stated it experienced an “anomaly” during today’s hotfire test. All personnel were accounted for, and updates would be provided as more information became available.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed the agency was aware of the incident. He said spaceflight is unforgiving and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. NASA will work with partners to support a thorough investigation, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.

Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos said it was too early to know the root cause of the incident. “Very rough day,” he added, but they would rebuild what needed rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”

Earlier this week, NASA awarded Blue Origin an $188 million contract to deliver rovers to the moon’s surface using its uncrewed cargo lunar lander as part of NASA’s broader Artemis lunar exploration missions.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has also faced setbacks in its development of a heavy-lift rocket. In June last year, its massive Starship spacecraft exploded during testing in Texas while preparing for a test flight. However, the company was partly successful with its 12th test flight of a Starship prototype last week when it deployed mock satellites and executed a controlled splashdown.

SpaceX failed to achieve a controlled landing of the Super Heavy booster, which tumbled into the Gulf of Mexico. The US Federal Aviation Administration said it was aware of the incident but stated that it was outside its scope and did not impact air traffic in the region.