Blue Origin rocket explodes during launchpad test. Now, Jeff Bezos reacts to the explosion. What was the cause of it?
It was on Thursday, May 28, 2026, when a New Glenn rocket of Blue Origin exploded during a launchpad test at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A video was posted from NASASpaceflight, which livestreams the launches from Florida. In the recent video, New Glenn was seen exploding on the pad. The explosion caused another setback for the space company, which was founded by Jeff Bezos.
The officials revealed that with the explosion, there was no threat to the public whatsoever. The explosion happened during a routine test, which is called 'hotfire'. To mention, no people were on board during the test, which was automated. Soon after the report of the New Glenn's explosion made rounds on social media, Jeff Bezos reacted to the same. He took to his X (Twitter) and confirmed that all personnel were safe, while adding that the reason for the explosion isn't known just yet. He mentioned that it's a very rough day, but they will rebuild whatever they need to rebuild. In his words:
"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."
Jeff Bezos earlier revealed that the cause was not known, and the team was working to find out the root cause. Blue Origin has revealed that it faced an 'anomaly', a term which is often used by the rocket companies to describe a launch failure or explosion. Well, the investigation is currently ongoing by the US Space Force and Blue Origin to find out exactly why this explosion took place.
To mention, it was on Wednesday, i.e. a day before the explosion, when Blue Origin revealed that it was preparing New Glenn to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, as part of a broadband constellation, competing with Elon Musk's Starlink network. As per the data, it took a decade and billions of dollars to develop New Glenn, which was meant to compete with SpaceX's Falcon fleet. New Glenn is reportedly 26 stories high and features a reusable booster along with seven BE-4 engines. Musk also reacted to the explosion of New Glenn, stating that it's unfortunate, adding, 'Rockets are hard'.
Earlier than this, New Glenn's third flight ended up in the wrong orbit during a flight last month, and the rocket was grounded by FAA. As per The Associated Press, it was only last week that they got permission to fly again. Well, it's not announced yet whether the FAA will investigate the recent explosion that happened during the static fire test. While it's a major setback for Bezos' company, it also jeopardised NASA's plan to send humans to the moon in the next two years.
It was on May 26, 2026, when NASA announced that Blue Origin had the contract to launch the first three planned missions of this year, to start with the project of constructing a USD 20 billion moon base. After the explosion news hit the headlines, NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, took to his social media to reveal that a full evaluation will take place to find out details about this explosion that destroyed the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre during the hotfire test. To add, Artemis III, which is scheduled for 2027, has been said to test Blue Origin's Blue Origin Lander and SpaceX's HLS to determine which will take the Artemis IV crew from the Orion Capsule to the lunar surface.
What do you think about the Bule Orgini's New Glenn's explosion?
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