Blue background Glenn’s new rocket exploded Thursday night during a test fire on the launch pad, lighting up the sky near the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. In a post on X, Blue background the founder Jeff Bezos he said all the workers have been accounted for.
“It is too early to know the source but we are already working to find it,” Bezos he wrote. “Terrible day, but we’ll rebuild anything that needs rebuilding and get back on the flight. It’s worth it.”
What is the Hot Fire Test?
The test in which the Blue Origin rocket—a vehicle that, at 98 meters tall, is one of the largest ever built—exploded is known as a hot-fire test, or static fire test. Basically, it’s a routine procedure done on rocket engines, spacecraft, or prototypes, where the engine is turned on for a very short time and then turned off while the vehicle remains safely on the launch pad. The purpose of this test is to verify that the systems are working correctly before the actual launch.
Blue Origin rocket
This would be the fourth mission of the New Glenn rocket, which was planned to carry 48 satellites, intended to be part of the Amazon Leo satellite network, as soon as next week. “NASA is aware of an error that occurred last night at Launch Complex 36 involving a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said. post on X. “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capabilities is extremely difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this error, assess the impact of short-term missions, and get back to launching the rocket.”
Isaacman further said that NASA will provide an update on any potential impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base missions as they become available; the vessel has contract with both Blue Origin and SpaceX for various aspects of its lunar return plans.
This explosion represents a setback for Bezos’ company. On April 19, a malfunction occurred during the rocket’s third flight that prompted an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). During the mission, the rocket’s first stage had successfully landed on the flotation platform, but the upper, or second, stage failed to carry its payload—AS SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite—into a safe orbit. The investigation was completed only on May 22.
This story has appeared before WIRED Italy and translated from Italian.
