"It's a very tough day, but we will rebuild what needs to be rebuilt and fly again. It's worth it." With these words on the social network X, magnate Jeff Bezos, owner of the aerospace company Blue Origin, reacted to the spectacular explosion of his super rocket New Glenn in Cape Canaveral during a static engine test on the launch pad. Before that, he reported that all workers were located and safe, and initiated an investigation to determine the cause of the engine test failure: "It's too early to know the root cause, but we are already working to find it," he stated.
The destruction of their flagship rocket also comes in a particularly happy week for Bezos, who just 48 hours earlier received one of the best news he could have hoped for: last Tuesday, NASA announced in a press conference that Blue Origin will be one of the strategic companies in the construction of the lunar base that the U.S. plans to start building this year at the Moon's south pole.
This is the flagship project of the Artemis program with which the U.S. aims to outpace China in the exploration of our satellite. Therefore, the explosion of the nearly 100-meter-tall New Glenn rocket poses a serious setback for NASA's return to the Moon.
Accidents and failures are common in the aerospace industry during development phases, and as NASA's director, Jared Isaacman, stated, "developing a new heavy-lift capability is extraordinarily difficult." The head of the U.S. space agency mentioned that they will report on the impact this explosion will have on the lunar program and short-term missions after a "thorough investigation of this anomaly."
NASA relies on Bezos' company for both the construction of the aforementioned lunar base and the Artemis missions. However, for all these plans, the New Glenn rocket that just exploded is needed.
Following the success of Artemis 2, the manned mission that circled the Moon last April with four astronauts on board, the agency is trying to accelerate preparations for Artemis 3, whose crew will be announced on June 9. This mission, scheduled for 2027, will not land on the Moon either: the Orion spacecraft will orbit the Earth and practice docking in orbit with the lunar modules being developed by SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, and Blue Origin, named Starship HLS and Blue Moon, respectively. This docking maneuver will be essential for the future Moon landing, planned for 2028 with Artemis 4.
Without knowing the details of Artemis 3 yet, NASA has indicated that the Orion spacecraft could dock with one or both of the lunar modules in development. After the destruction of the New Glenn, it is very challenging for Blue Origin to have its lunar module and the New Glenn rocket ready in time for Artemis 3.
The explosion from the early hours also deals a severe blow to Bezos' grand space ambitions, as he has been in a race with Elon Musk for years to be a key player in lunar exploration in general, and the Artemis program in particular.
After many efforts and a great deal of perseverance, Bezos had managed to climb the ranks in recent months and position his company almost on par with SpaceX in terms of NASA contracts. Over the past five years, Musk's company, which has revolutionized the launcher market with its reusable Falcon rockets, has been NASA's favorite and was selected in 2021 in the competition to manufacture the module from which the next astronauts to walk on the Moon will descend, as part of the Artemis program.
The decision angered Bezos, who even took NASA to court to try to have his Blue Moon module transport the future moonwalkers to the Moon. He did not succeed, but after a lengthy process, in 2023, NASA awarded the Amazon founder a contract for his spacecraft to be used in Artemis 5.
Due to delays in the development of SpaceX's module, which will be an adapted version of the Starship spacecraft, also in the testing phase, NASA is now considering whether the landing module used could be either that version of Starship or Blue Origin's.
Therefore, if SpaceX manages to have its Starship vehicle ready on time, whose latest version was successfully tested last week, and NASA accelerates preparations, it would still be possible to launch the Artemis 3 mission next year and practice the docking of Orion with at least one lunar module in orbit.
The construction of the Lunar Base, led by Spanish engineer Carlos García-Galán, is divided into three phases. The first stage is expected to begin this fall precisely with a Blue Origin mission, which has won a $188 million contract from NASA to transport several rovers (robotic exploration vehicles) to the Moon's south pole.
Blue Origin was set to debut its lunar module, Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance, carrying payloads for NASA. The goal of this unmanned mission, now uncertain, was to deliver laser instruments and cameras to Shackleton Connecting Ridge to help orbiting spacecraft determine their position more accurately. The idea is to test capabilities that reduce risks for astronauts landing in 2028. Two other robotic missions for the lunar base are planned for 2026, led by the companies Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines.
On the other hand, the New Glenn rocket, which has completed three flights so far, is used by Blue Origin to launch its own satellites - Amazon's internet constellation, called Leo, is in development - as well as those of other customers. The third flight, carried out on April 19, failed to place the telecommunications satellite it carried, BlueBird 7 from AST SpaceMobile, in the correct orbit, prompting an investigation to determine the cause of the failure. However, it did successfully recover the rocket's first stage, as the New Glenn, like the Falcon rockets, is reusable.
Meanwhile, Blue Origin has warned that rocket debris may wash up on the coast in the coming days and weeks, urging anyone who finds any components not to touch or approach them for their safety and to notify the company for recovery.