Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes on launchpad

The incident is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has exploded on the launchpad during a test in the US state of Florida.The incident on Thursday evening is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US to designate two Brazilian gangs as ‘terrorist’ organisationslist 2 of 4US Treasury secretary confirms plans for banknote featuring Trump’s facelist 3 of 4Anthropic soars to $965bn valuation, leapfrogging OpenAIlist 4 of 4Lebanon Latest: Mass evacuations as Israel expands attacksend of listFootage of the incident shows smoke emerging from underneath the rocket before it erupts into a massive fireball that billows skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air.Emergency crews remained at the scene more than an hour later, but officials said there was no threat from fumes or other potential hazards.No injuries have been reported.“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a brief statement posted on X, adding that “all personnel have been accounted for”.A hot-fire test is where a rocket engine is fired up while anchored to the ground.In a separate X post, Bezos said it was “too early to know the root cause” of the incident.“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” Bezos added.US House Representative Mike Haridopolos, whose Florida district includes the launch site at Cape Canaveral, said in a statement on X that he has been in contact with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman regarding the explosion.“I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly,” Haridopolos said.Blue Origin is preparing the New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of efforts to build a broadband constellation to rival Musk’s Starlink network.