NASA's ambitious plans to build its first Moon base have suffered an early setback after a rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin exploded in a gigantic fireball on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Setback for Lunar Ambitions
The space company founded by the billionaire Amazon entrepreneur has a key role from the outset in establishing an outpost on the lunar surface. However, its main delivery system, the New Glenn rocket, detonated during an engine-firing test on Thursday night, ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week.
The launch pad and its gantry also apparently suffered severe damage in the massive explosion that sent smoke and flaming debris high into the air. When Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blew up on the pad in 2016, the launch facility was out of action for more than a year, but alternative sites were available. Blue Origin, however, only had one pad for the New Glenn rocket, which has now been badly damaged.
Impact on NASA's Timeline
The devastating blast comes just days after NASA chief Jared Isaacman unveiled far-reaching plans to build a Moon base that could see people living and working on Earth's natural satellite within six years. The pioneering project, which aims to develop technologies for future deep space missions including to Mars, will be rolled out in three stages.
The first phase was to have seen Blue Origin launch its robotic Moon lander to deliver scientific experiments to the Moon's surface, aimed at reducing risk for future crewed landings in 2028. It was also announced that Blue Origin had been awarded a contract worth up to 468 million dollars (£347 million) to transport lunar rovers to the south pole in preparation for astronaut arrival.
These missions relied on the heavy-lift New Glenn, named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. Blue Origin had been preparing the rocket for its fourth launch planned for next week, to put satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Reactions and Next Steps
Following the blast, Mr Bezos wrote on X: "It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it. Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it."
Mr Isaacman said: "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult." He promised to provide information on any impact to future NASA missions as a result of the blast.
SpaceX could stand to gain from Blue Origin's misfortune, although the firm has also faced setbacks with its rockets. Responding to his rival's explosion, Mr Musk said: "Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard."
