Bezos Rocket Named After Astronaut and Senator Blows Up

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on a Florida launchpad during a hotfire test, appearing to fail without leaving the pad. The test was conducted ahead of a planned future launch, and the incident damaged the launchpad and associated launch equipment. Blue Origin reported an anomaly during the hotfire test and stated that all personnel were accounted for. The New Glenn rocket is named after John Glenn and was intended to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit internet service. The failure comes shortly after NASA planned to acquire two additional New Glenn rockets to transport lunar rovers in 2028 for Artemis IV and Artemis V. NASA’s Artemis II mission recently completed a successful crew lunar flyby.

"A rocket made by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin blew up on a launchpad in Florida on Thursday during a test. The New Glenn rocket exploded seemingly without leaving the launchpad, damaging the pad and launching equipment. The test was being conducted before a planned future launch. We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test, said Blue Origin on social media. All personnel have been accounted for."

"The rocket was named after John Glenn, the American astronaut who first orbited the Earth and later was a U.S. senator from Ohio. Its planned mission would have carried 48 satellites for Amazon's version of low-Earth-orbit internet, similar to Elon Musk's Starlink. Both Musk's SpaceX and Blue Origin are working with NASA to once again walk on the moon. Thursday's upset surrounding one of the rockets that is part of the moon project will affect those plans."

"The New Glenn problem comes just days after NASA announced it would be snagging two more of those types of rockets from Blue Origin, planning to use them to transport rovers to the moon in 2028. Those rovers could then be used by astronauts on the moon's surface during planned missions Artemis IV and Artemis V. These would, of course, follow April's successful Artemis II mission, which saw four crew members execute a lunar flyby the first time astronauts went to the moon in over 50 years."

"President Donald Trump's new administrator of NASA, Jared Isaacman, claimed in March that he intended to build a base on the moon in the coming years. We're returning to the moon. We're returning to the moon, and we're going to stay. We're gonna build a lunar base, he told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo."

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