The explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket resulted in an enormous conflagration that lit up the sky in Florida for miles around.
The rocket was being test-fired on Thursday at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when it blew up at about 9 p.m. on the coast.
‘Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.’
The explosion destroyed the rocket, the erector-gantry used to move the rocket, and one of two lighting towers near the pad.
Space expert Ken Kremer explained how the explosion unfolded to WESH-TV.
“They were loading propellant into the rocket, and they started a static fire test, which is not a launch,” Kremer said. “The rocket is sitting on the pad, and they want to ignite the engines for several seconds to test them all out and make sure everything will work when they do the launch in the next few weeks. That was the plan.”
“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said on social media about the incident.
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” he added. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
The U.S. Space Force Eastern Range confirmed that there were no injuries and said first responders were on the scene.
The destroyed New Glenn rocket was scheduled to launch in June with 48 Leo internet satellites owned by Amazon that were intended to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system.
Musk, who has had his own rocket explosions as the founder of SpaceX, responded via social media.
“Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” he posted.
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The rocket was also intended to launch a moon lander on a test flight that would have rendezvoused with the NASA Artemis mission in Earth orbit.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on social media. “We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
Blue Origin was far more successful when it launched an all-female celebrity crew that included Katy Perry and Bezos’ then-fiancée, Lauren Sanchez. The space crew traveled 62 miles above Earth, experienced approximately four minutes of weightlessness, and then returned soon afterward.
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