The incident of the explosion took place in preparation for New Glenn's fourth flight, which would carry 48 satellites for the company's broadband satellite internet connection Amazon – in the context of competition with the respective Starlink service of Ilon Musk.
New Glenn, Blue Origin's first reused rocket, made his maiden flight in January 2025, which was largely described as successful, as was the second flight in November 2025. However, the third flight in April 2026 was a partial failure, as in the second stage the thrusters failed to orbit the satellite it was carrying.
Yesterday's incident comes in a critical phase for Blue Origin, as competition with SpaceX culminates in the sharing of his gold contracts Artemis programme for the return of the United States to the Moon, amounting to tens of billions of dollars.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman. announced the investigation as a few days before Blue Origin secured contracts of $188 million to transport robotic lunar vehicles under the Artemis program.
«Space flights do not forgive mistakes, and the development of a new heavy load launch capability is extremely difficult» NASA chief stressed.
