Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes into massive fireball during ‘hotfire test’ in Florida
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on a Florida launch pad in a dramatic scene fit for a Hollywood action flick Thursday night.
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Live footage showed the mega-rocket burst into an enormous fireball at the start of a test around 9 p.m. – though the Jeff Bezos-owned company made clear there were no reported injuries as a result.
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin tweeted Thursday night.
“All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
The company referred The Post to its social media statement when emailed for comment.
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos tweeted.
“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.
New Glenn has been worked on for a decade and cost billions in a bid to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s fleet and its stronger Starship.
“Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard,” Musk tweeted in reply to video of the incident.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on X Thursday night the space agency was aware of the “anomaly” at Launch Complex 36 and vowed to conduct a “thorough” probe into the explosion.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” he stated.
“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. We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the test in the Sunshine State’s Cape Canaveral was not “within the scope of FAA licensed activities.”
“There was no impact to air traffic,” an agency rep said.
The striking footage captured on NASASpaceflight comes as the rocket was prepping for an upcoming launch that would have carried 48 satellites for Amazon’s internet constellation, according to the New York Times.
“I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly,” tweeted House Rep. Mike Haridopolos, a Florida Republican whose district covers the space complex.
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“Praying for Florida’s Space Coast and everyone involved.”
The Glenn rocket is named after famous NASA astronaut John Glenn.
With Post wires
