This is already a major setback for Blue Origin. His powerful rocket New Glenn was completely destroyed by an explosion on the LC-36 launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The event occurred during an attempt to static firing BE-4 engines of its first stage, a routine test before its fourth commercial NG-4 flight. No victims, while the images of the fireball bear witness to the violence of the incident.
What is the origin of this catastrophe?
The explosion occurred moments after the ignition of the seven BE-4 engines, fueled by a mixture of methane and liquid oxygen.
Founder of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos stressed that it is still too early to know the exact cause of the incident. He qualifies the very difficult daywhile affirming a determination to ” repair everything that needs to be repaired and resume flights “.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also quickly reacted, declaring that ” space flight is unforgiving and developing new heavy launch capabilities is extraordinarily difficult “.
For Ars Technica, this explosion is considered the most spectacular at Cape Canaveral since that of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2016, which required more than a year of repairs on its launch pad.
The direct consequences for Blue Origin
Initial observations indicate that the launch complex’s infrastructure is severely affected, including the destruction of at least one of the lightning towers.
This incident grounded the New Glenn fleet for a indefinite durationdashing hopes of reaching a monthly launch cadence.
The destroyed rocket was scheduled to launch a series of 49 satellites for the Amazon Leo internet constellation in early June. This contract, as well as those of other customers such as AST SpaceMobile, is now on hold.
Blue Origin had only just obtained authorization to fly again after an anomaly on its previous NG-3 flight.
Looking forward to NASA missions
NASA is counting on the New Glenn launcher for key missions in its lunar program Artemis. The rocket is scheduled to launch the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander this fall, as well as private lunar rovers in 2028, essential to the construction of a future base on the Moon.
Jared Isaacman said the US space agency would assess the short-term impact of the incident on missions, which could affect the already tight timetable for returning humans to the Moon.
