Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket experienced a significant explosion during a hotfire test in Florida, marking its most serious failure to date.

Synopsis Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket experienced a significant explosion during a hotfire test in Florida, marking its most serious failure to date. The incident occurred ahead of a planned launch carrying Amazon Kuiper satellites. The cause is under investigation by Blue Origin and the US Space Force, potentially impacting future launches and NASA's Artemis program. Jeff Bezos' space firm Blue Origin said on Thursday New Glenn rocket exploded during a hotfire test in Florida, an incident which the aerospace company called an “anomaly.” A livestream posted by NSF, an aerospace news organisation, captured the fiery plume. The explosion occurred during a test being conducted in advance of an upcoming launch. Blue Origin was conducting a static fire test ahead of the expected fourth launch of its new rocket in the coming weeks. The mission was set to carry Amazon Kuiper internet satellites into space. Since the rocket was likely fully fueled during the test, the blast became one of the biggest rocket explosions in US history and marked the most serious failure in Blue Origin’s history. ALSO READ: Blue Origin rocket explodes during test, setback for bid to catch SpaceX Why Blue Origin rocket exploded The specific engineering root cause of the explosion is currently under investigation by Blue Origin and the US Space Force, but an early footage showed rocket bursting into a massive ball of fire, engulfing the area around it. The US Space Force said emergency responders are at the scene and officials are working with Blue Origin to evaluate available data to determine the exact cause of the anomaly, reports BBC. Live Events NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on X: "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets." What this means for Blue Origin now The explosion is expected to force Blue Origin to pause its New Glenn rocket programme for a significant period as the company investigates what went wrong. Blue Origin had planned up to 12 New Glenn launches this year after spending nearly a decade developing the rocket to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The company is also expected to play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program missions to the Moon, a partnership the agency highlighted earlier this week. NASA official Jared Isaacman said on Thursday that the agency will share any potential impact on the Artemis and Moon Base programmes as more details emerge. Blue Origin has also been targeting national security launches for the Pentagon. Just last month, Blue Origin's newest rocket was grounded after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered an investigation into a "mishap" involving the failed launch of a satellite. The company attempted to place a satellite from AST SpaceMobile using its New Glenn rocket but was unable to get it as far into orbit as intended. The FAA had cleared New Glenn to fly again after Blue Origin completed an investigation into that earlier failure. The space company successfully launched a New Glenn rocket from Florida last November, landing its reusable booster for the first time. (With agency inputs) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Wafers to war: Vinay Dube on how Iran crisis is hitting Akasa Stock-linked pay for UGRO promoter raises governance concerns Can a Rajan-style NRI dollar-deposit scheme save the rupee? How practical is India’s latest investor protection framework? Iran war impact: Oil prices may be just one among many to pinch you For those who still have patience for long-term investing: 5 large-caps from different sectors with upside potential of up to 30% 1 2 3

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