In Brief
- Jeff Bezos has committed to rebuilding the rocket, but says the cause of failure is not yet known.
- Elon Musk, CEO of Blue Origin competitor SpaceX, responded to the failed launch in a post on X, writing: "Rockets are hard."
Jeff Bezos says his space company Blue Origin has had a "very rough day" after its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad.
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket dramatically exploded on the launch pad during a test on Friday, in a setback for Bezos' space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with its competitor, Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Video posted by NASASpaceflight, a YouTube channel that livestreams launches from Florida, showed the New Glenn igniting on the pad before erupting into a massive fireball that billowed skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air.
Blue Origin said it had experienced an "anomaly", a term commonly used by rocket companies to describe a launch failure or explosion.
"We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more," the company said on X.
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A hotfire test is where a rocket engine is fired up while anchored to the ground.
In a separate X post, Bezos said it was "too early to know the root cause" of the incident.
"Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it," he said.
Earlier this week, Blue Origin said it was preparing the New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit, as part of efforts to build a broadband constellation to rival Musk's Starlink network. It did not provide a launch date.
Blue Origin has spent billions of dollars and about a decade developing New Glenn, a 29-storey-high rocket with a reusable first stage meant to compete with SpaceX's Falcon fleet and its more powerful Starship.
Musk responded on X to a video of the New Glenn explosion, saying: "Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard."
The US Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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