The recent explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket during a routine test is a big setback for the private spaceflight company, and will likely have implications for NASA's Artemis program timeline and the nation's efforts to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
The May 28 incident, in which no one was injured, occurred while Blue Origin prepared its fourth New Glenn rocket for launch. A static test fire of the vehicle's engines at Launch Complex-36 (LC-36), located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, was the rocket's last major milestone before a liftoff targeted for June 4. During that test, however, an explosion destroyed the rocket and severely damaged launch infrastructure on the ground. (The payload for that flight, a group of 48 Amazon Leo internet satellites, was not aboard the rocket when it exploded.)
