The Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin rocket that dramatically exploded on Florida’s space coast Thursday night costs upwards of $150 million to construct — and the Amazon founder pledged to “rebuild whatever needs rebuilding.”
It costs more than $100 million to build the New Glenn rocket’s first stage, a 188-foot-tall rocket booster, and north of $50 million to construct the 88-foot tall upper stage, Ars Technica reported, representing a potential major setback for the space exploration company.
The explosion lit up the night sky Thursday after the rocket burst into an intense fireball during a test and miraculously, nobody was injured, according to Blue Origin — which significantly undersold the massive blast as an “anomaly.”
As the prelaunch test began the rocket became completely consumed in fire and seconds later exploded, sending flames and debris flying in a terrifying scene that looked like a nuclear bomb had detonated.
The first stage of the rocket was completely engulfed before collapsing. As the booster was consumed by flames, the rocket’s 88-foot-tall upper stage tilted and also toppled over.
The blast and mushroom cloud could be seen for miles.
“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” Bezos said afterwards. “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.”
Blue Origin warned locals that debris from the explosion may wash ashore in the coming days, and urged people to stay away.
Blue Origin’s reusable first stage of the rocket, which is designed for a minimum 25 flights, was expected to pay for itself after multiple launches, according to Ars Technica. The company was also working to develop a reusable upper stage to cut costs.
It’s unclear whether the blast will have any effect on the upcoming Artemis missions to establish a base on the moon.
On Tuesday, NASA announced the Blue Origin was awarded the contract to launch the first of three planned missions this year to begin construction of its $20 billion moon base.
In the first mission, Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander will deliver payloads to the Lunar South Pole in the “first privately funded lunar lander mission in history.”
Blue Origin was was also a $188 million contract to deliver Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs) to the moon’s surface.
NASA hopes to reach the “early habitation” stage on the moon by early 2029.