Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Hot-Fire Test

Amazon’s satellite internet division has sought to calm employee concern after last week’s Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explosion, which founder Jeff Bezos described as a ‘very rough day’.

The incident took place during a hot-fire test at Cape Canaveral, when the rocket erupted into a massive fireball ahead of a mission expected to carry Amazon’s operational internet satellites.

While the company reported no injuries, the blast caused a significant amount of damage to Blue Origin’s launch infrastructure, raising concerns about Amazon’s satellite rollout timeline.

In a memo obtained by Business Insider, Rajeev Badyal, VP of Amazon’s Leo satellite program, told staff it was too early to speculate on the cause or impact of the explosion.

He reassured employees that Amazon’s satellites were safe: “Folks should know that our satellites were not on the vehicle — they remain secure at our processing facility at Kennedy Space Center.”

Badyal emphasized that setbacks are part of spaceflight: “Spaceflight is hard, and setbacks happen. Jeff has already said that Blue will rebuild and get back to flying. I believe it, and we’ll be with them each step of the way.”

Amazon’s launch strategy

Amazon is working on a constellation of thousands of satellites to compete with rival SpaceX’s Starlink which is presently the dominant player in the market.

Around 30% of Amazon’s satellites were slated to be deployed via New Glenn rockets, but Badyal stressed that Amazon’s broader launch strategy remains in place.

The company has also secured more than 100 launches across multiple providers, including United Launch Alliance (ULA) and ArianeSpace, ensuring redundancy in its deployment plans.

“New Glenn is just one vehicle in our lineup. Our mission hasn’t changed, our commitment to our customers hasn’t changed,” Badyal wrote.

Team, By now, most of you have probably seen the news: Earlier tonight, Blue Origin experienced an anomaly during a hotfire test of its New Glenn vehicle that was slated to fly our first Leo mission (LN-01).

It's too early to speculate on root cause or other downstream effects, but we do know that all Amazon and Blue Origin personnel have been accounted for and everyone is safe with no injuries. That's the most important thing.

And since there have been questions here, folks should know that our satellites were not on the vehicle — they remain secure at our processing facility at Kennedy Space Center and were never integrated with the rocket.

I've been in this business for a long time and it's worth saying: Spaceflight is hard, and setbacks happen. Jeff has already said that Blue will rebuild and get back to flying. I believe it, and we'll be with them each step of the way.

In the meantime, I want you to know that our mission hasn't changed, our commitment to our customers and delivering service hasn't changed, our focus on the upcoming ULA and ArianeSpace launches hasn't changed and our confidence in this team and program hasn't changed. New Glenn is just one vehicle in our lineup, and important we stay focused on the mission ahead.

Thank you for everything you do. Rajeev