Blue Origin Rocket That Exploded During Testing Puts NASA's Moon Return Plans in Doubt

The fireball that lit up the sky over Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday evening has cast serious doubt on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin's ability to fulfill its commitments to NASA as part of the program to send astronauts to the Moon and build a lunar base, writes the BBC.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded around 9:00 PM local time on Thursday during routine engine tests. The 98-meter rocket was supposed to launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband satellite internet network into orbit.

This explosion, undoubtedly, was a serious blow to the network, which aims to become a major competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX and its Starlink satellite service. However, the consequences of this incident will be much more serious.

Fortunately, despite the powerful explosion, no one was injured.

"All employees are accounted for and safe," Bezos wrote on X. "Very tough day, but we'll recover everything we need to and get back to flying. It's worth it."

The explosion, which occurred at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36), caused extensive damage. Video footage shows one of the launchpad's lightning protection towers collapsing as a result of the blast.

LC-36 is the only facility in the world built to launch the New Glenn rocket. This means that until the launchpad is rebuilt and re-certified, Blue Origin will not be able to launch its largest rocket. Analysts predict that repairs will take months, not weeks.

This setback occurred just days after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled the first three stages of the mission to establish a lunar base – a project he called the beginning of a "permanent presence" at its south pole.

The first of these, Moon Base 1, is to be carried out using Blue Origin's robotic Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander. Its launch is scheduled no earlier than autumn 2026.

The mission's goal is to deliver two NASA science modules to Shackleton's connecting ridge and demonstrate the high-precision landing techniques necessary to ensure the safety of future crewed landings.

However, the lander was supposed to fly to the Moon on a New Glenn launch vehicle – the same type of rocket whose debris is now scattered across the launchpad – which immediately called into question the realism of the stated flight schedule.

Earlier this week, NASA also awarded Blue Origin a contract worth up to $468 million. The company is to deliver two commercial lunar rovers, developed by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, to the Moon's south pole by 2028.

The rovers were expected to arrive before the astronauts landed. NASA set 2028 as the date for a crewed landing, but doubts about its realism arose even before Thursday's explosion.

The exploded rocket was supposed to deliver 48 satellites into orbit for Amazon's Leo broadband satellite internet network, formerly known as Project Kuiper, and created to compete with Musk's Starlink.

Currently, just over 300 Amazon satellites are in orbit, and all of them were delivered there by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Arianespace, not by Blue Origin itself.

Leo's lag behind Starlink, which already has over 10,000 satellites in orbit, now represents a serious commercial problem for Bezos' company.

Under the terms of the license issued to Amazon by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the company is required to launch half of its 3,236 satellites into orbit by July 30, 2026.

As of the end of May, the company was already short by over 1,300 satellites to achieve this goal, with delays partly attributed to the "availability of launch vehicles" from Blue Origin and other providers.

With the launch of the New Glenn rocket now expected to be suspended for several months, Amazon will become even more dependent on its competitors, primarily SpaceX, to continue its program. At the same time, the company will almost certainly have to ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a deadline extension.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, commenting on the explosion video on X, simply wrote: "Very sad. Rockets are hard."

Other Problems

NASA's next crewed lunar mission, Artemis 3, is scheduled for next year and is conceived as a test flight of two commercial lunar landers, developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX, in low Earth orbit.

Before the explosion, Blue Origin was considered the more prepared of the two companies. Its Mark 1 prototype was already in final assembly in Florida, while SpaceX's Starship still needed to successfully perform in-space fuel transfer.

As a result, NASA's plan to return astronauts to the Moon by 2028 and build a lunar base there has now encountered a number of problems that will inevitably lead to delays.

The testing of the Artemis 3 mission lander and the delivery of rovers for the lunar base depend on the New Glenn rocket.

Meanwhile, China is rapidly implementing its own plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, leaving NASA with fewer and fewer options for maneuver.

"Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch vehicles is extremely complex," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated on X.

His ambition to bring the lunar program to a more ambitious launch frequency is now under serious question after the latest setback.

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