Jeff Bezos says it's a 'very rough day' but that Blue Origin will 'rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying'A Blue Origin rocket has exploded on the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was undergoing an engine "hotfire test" on Thursday, May 28, ahead of an upcoming launch of 48 Amazon Leo broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. A target launch date had not been announced."We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test," Blue Origin said in a post on X. "All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more."A spokesman for Blue Origin, which is Jeff Bezos' company, referred USA TODAY to the post, after a reporter requested more information about what happened.Bezos said in a post on X that "it's too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it.""Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying," he wrote. "It’s worth it."Video of the moment that the New Glenn rocket exploded was spreading fast across social media. It shows a sudden and powerful explosion, followed by the rocket quickly being engulfed in massive flames. Video of the aftermath showed a yellow haze in the sky surrounded by thick clouds in what looked like an apocalyptic scene.What does NASA say about the explosion?NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a post on X that "spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult.""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," he said. "We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available."Blue Origin and billionaire Elon Musk's rival SpaceX have both been competing to have separate lunar landers ready in time for NASA's Artemis III mission in 2027. That mission itself would be a critical test of each lander's docking capabilities in Earth orbit before NASA can put boots back on the lunar surface the following year for the Artemis IV mission.Whichever lander ends up being selected for Artemis IV would rendezvous with NASA astronauts aboard an Orion vehicle in lunar orbit and then ferry them to the surface. After the astronauts conduct a moon walk and a series of scientific experiments, the lander would then transport them back up to Orion, which would make the journey back to Earth, according to NASA.Musk, who has dealt with his own spacecraft explosions, sympathized with Blue Origin's setback.“Most unfortunate," Musk said on a video posted to X of the New Glenn explosion. "Rockets are hard.”More about the rocket that exploded, Blue OriginThe rocket that exploded was Blue Origin's fourth New Glenn rocket and was supposed to be the vehicle to carry Blue Origin's lunar lander to orbit. The company has previously launched three New Glenn rockets from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.A New Glenn rocket most recently got off the ground April 19 on a mission to deploy broadband network satellites for cellular broadband service provider AST SpaceMobile to space. While the rocket delivered the satellites to the wrong orbit, Blue Origin did manage to once again recover the first stage booster, which itself had been reused after a previous spaceflight in a major first.Blue Origin had not announced the next target liftoff date for New Glenn, but the rocket had been slated to potentially launch as early as June 4, according to a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory.Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, founded the private space technology company Blue Origin in 2000.Headquartered in Washington state, Blue Origin made a name for itself with its suborbital human spaceflights using its New Shepard spacecraft from West Texas. Those missions, several of which featured celebrities like musician Katy Perry and actor William Shatner, have been paused for at least two years while Blue Origin focuses on its lunar program.