Blue Origin rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida

The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday night.

The explosion occurred around 21:00. Blue Origin said there were no injuries in the incident.

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hot fire testing,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “All personnel have been recorded. We will provide updates as we learn more.”

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station also issued a separate statement confirming that “all personnel have been counted and there have been no injuries/fatalities.”

Blue Origin was scheduled to fuel the rocket Thursday evening before the planned test firing of the rocket engines.

Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos launched successfully third New Glenn rocket last month.

That rocket was preparing for its fourth New Glenn mission, scheduled for June 4, to launch 48 satellites for Amazon’s Leo internet service, competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

48 satellites were not on the rocket during the test. It was not immediately clear how much damage the launch pad and ground equipment sustained or how long it would take to repair.

Space Launch Complex 36, where the explosion occurred, is the only launch pad equipped to launch New Glenn rockets.

New Glenn rocket is key to Blue Origin and NASA moon base plansand the explosion will probably be a setback. Next year, New Glenn is expected to launch another Blue Moon lander into low Earth orbit as part of the Artemis III mission.

One social media postNASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote: “Space flight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a comprehensive investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and return to rocket launches.”

The New Glenn rocket was allowed to return to flight on May 22 after being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration due to an anomaly in the second stage during the launch on April 19.

In a statement on Thursday, the FAA said it was aware that the rocket “experienced an anomaly during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral, Florida,” adding that “the test was not within the scope of FAA-licensed activities.”

The FAA also noted that the explosion “had no impact on air traffic.”

Bezos wrote to x “It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already trying to find it. It’s a very difficult day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs to be rebuilt and get back to flying. It’ll be worth it,” he said Thursday night.

Musk wrote: “I’m sorry to see this, I hope you get better quickly.”