Overview
- The New Glenn suffered a catastrophic explosion during a static hotfire ignition test at Launch Complex 36 on Thursday night and videos show a large fireball visible from nearby beaches.
- Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos said all personnel were accounted for and confirmed no satellites were on board the vehicle during the test.
- The FAA said it was aware of the anomaly, U.S. Space Force range operators are coordinating with Blue Origin, and NASA offered support for an inquiry into short-term mission impacts.
- Multiple reports say the vehicle had been fueled for the hotfire, a detail that could explain the scale of the blast and that will be a key focus of technical investigations.
- The accident follows an April New Glenn flight that failed to place a satellite in the correct orbit and is likely to delay the planned Amazon Leo launch and complicate Blue Origin's commercial and NASA lunar plans.