During a pre-launch static fire, a fully stacked rocket for Blue Origin’s fourth New Glenn rocket suffered a failure, leading to its destruction and damage to the launch pad’s infrastructure.
The explosion took place at LC-36, Blue Origin‘s New Glenn launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Blue Origin’s goal was to complete a pre-launch static fire, where the rocket’s booster is fueled and its engines ignited for a short duration. This is usually the final test before getting ready to launch.
Just before 9:00 PM ET, the New Glenn booster named “No, It’s Necessary” exploded before the static fire could be completed. It is unknown how far along in the static fire process the test was before the explosion.
The massive fireball was seen from various media streams of the test that quickly made its way to social media. About 30 minutes after the explosion, Blue Origin made a short comment on their X account saying, “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Space Launch Delta 45 reports no injuries or fatalities from the incident.
