Blue Origin has suffered a catastrophic setback to its rocket programme in the form of an explosion at its only operational launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which could add further delays to Nasa’s plans to send astronauts to the moon before China.
A bright orange fireball, which local residents said looked like a “mini nuke”, completely consumed Launch Complex 36 at around 9pm on Thursday evening during a static fire test of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.
