Blue Origin faced a serious incident during the testing of its heavy rocket New Glenn. The vehicle exploded on the launch pad in Florida during engine checks; however, preliminary reports indicate that no one was injured.
The New Glenn rocket from Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, exploded during testing at Cape Canaveral in the United States.
The incident occurred on Thursday evening during a ground engine check on the launch pad. The company confirmed the incident, stating that an "anomaly" was detected during the tests.
According to available information, the rocket exploded before launch — directly during technical testing. There have been no reports of fatalities or injuries.
The New Glenn rocket is one of Blue Origin's largest space projects. It is being developed as a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle for deploying satellites into orbit, as well as for future crewed and cargo space missions. The project is considered one of the main competitors to SpaceX rockets in the space launch market.
The name New Glenn is given in honor of American astronaut John Glenn — the first American to orbit the Earth.
So far, Blue Origin has not disclosed details of the incident and has not reported how severely the launch infrastructure has been damaged or how the incident will affect the further testing program.
In recent years, the company has been actively increasing its presence in the space launch market, so the investigation into the causes of the accident will be crucial for the future of the New Glenn project.
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