A New Glenn rocket exploded over Cape Canaveral Thursday night, causing no injuries.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad Thursday night, creating a huge fireball that shook homes and briefly turned the sky orange.
The explosion occurred around 9 p.m. Eastern time. No one was injured, according to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station officials.
“We encountered an unusual situation during today’s heat test,” Blue Origin said. on social media. “All individuals have been accounted for. We will provide an update as we learn more.”
“It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already working hard to find it,” Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos said via
video Post to social media Showing the fireball on the launch pad. Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was visible from the beach, and the Internet was quickly flooded with photos of the explosion.
Emergency crews were still at the scene more than an hour after the explosion. Officials stressed there was no threat of smoke or other potential hazards.
Blue Origin is scheduled to fuel the rocket on Thursday ahead of a planned test launch of its engine, cbs news explain. The company is preparing to launch 48 next week Amazon Leo The satellite enters low Earth orbit.
New Glenn debuts from Cape Canaveral in 2025. It is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. The rocket has grounded In April, it sent a satellite into the wrong orbit due to engine failure. This is only the third flight of a rocket that Blue Origin intends to use to launch landers for NASA to the moon.
Blue Origin was expected to launch a prototype lunar lander to the moon during flight tests this fall. Earlier this week, the space agency awarded Blue Origin a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a pair of lunar rovers over the next few years as part of the Artemis program.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving and developing new heavy-lift capabilities is extremely difficult,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said via
Space Force officials said the explosion would not affect upcoming launches by other companies from other launch pads. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket will lift off on Friday night with a batch of Amazon Leo satellites, the same type of satellite the rocket was supposed to carry.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who also experienced a rocket explosion, offered his condolences. “Sorry to see this and I hope you recover quickly,” he told Blue Origin via X.
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