Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes during testing in Florida

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at a launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Livestreams from NASASpaceFlight.com and SpaceFlight Now captured the event. Blue Origin later confirmed the explosion in an X post. The test occurred ahead of a planned fourth launch that would have carried Amazon Leo internet satellites. Blue Origin said all personnel were accounted for and safe. The company described the incident as an anomaly and did not specify a cause. Jeff Bezos wrote that it was too early to determine the root cause. He said the team was working to identify it and would rebuild as needed before returning to flight. Bezos added that the effort was worth it. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency would work with partners on a thorough investigation of the anomaly and assess near-term mission impacts. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was aware of the explosion and that there was no impact to air traffic. NASA and the Space Force did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The explosion likely means Blue Origin will pause the New Glenn program for an extended period. The company had planned as many as 12 launches this year after a decade of development. Blue Origin also supports NASA's Artemis missions to the moon and aims to launch national security missions for the Pentagon. The incident came weeks after the rocket's third flight, which ended when the upper stage failed to place an AST SpaceMobile satellite into orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration cleared New Glenn to fly again last week after Blue Origin completed an investigation. Amazon confirmed that no Leo satellites were on board the test vehicle. Elon Musk wrote on X that rockets are hard and expressed hope for a quick recovery. Congressman Mike Haridopolos, who represents the district that includes Cape Canaveral, said he had spoken with Isaacman and was grateful there were no reported injuries.