What’s next for Blue Origin after the rocket explosion

For years, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin operated in secrecy, overshadowed by the success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

But in the past year, it has been gaining momentum and moving closer to reliably launching a gigantic rocket called the New Glenn. It was supposed to give the entire space industry much-needed capacity to launch satellites and other equipment into space.

NASA gave the rocket a boost earlier this week with a bigger role in the agency’s Artemis program to return to the moon, and Amazon had 48 of its satellites ready to go into orbit at its plant to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink internet service.

Then, around 9 p.m. Thursday, New Glenn exploded on its launch pad during a fireball test.

“It’s a big collective slip and failure,” said Chad Anderson, an early-stage investor at venture capital firm Space Capital.

The blast delay hits Blue Origin and its customers, including Amazon and NASA, just as SpaceX nears a highly publicized initial public offering that could value the company at more than $1.25 trillion.

If the rocket had exploded in mid-air, the failure might have been almost routine, but the explosion severely damaged the launch pad. At least one massive steel tower appeared to be largely gone, and there are questions about the condition of the tangle of hydraulics and fuel systems that run under the concrete pad and through the area.

Blue Origin did not return a request for comment. In a social media post Thursday night, it called the blast an “anomaly” and said all staff were safe. Amazon had no immediate comment.

New Glenn has only one launch pad: Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Blue Origin spent several years and more than $1 billion rebuilding the 1960s-era launch pad.

That means Blue Origin not only needs to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, but also rebuilds the launch infrastructure, creating the potential for a long delay before the company can start testing New Glenn again.

The delay will affect Blue Origin when it was otherwise pursuing its goals, said Carissa Christensen, CEO of BryceTech, a space analytics and engineering firm. “I don’t think it’s game-ending or even game-changing, but it’s disappointing,” she said.

Industry watchers say Mr. Bezos will stick to his ambitions. He is value more than $290 billion and considers Blue Origin a cornerstone of its legacy. Blue Origin’s resources are limited only by its appetite for spending.

“A very difficult day but we will rebuild everything that needs rebuilding and get back to flying,” he wrote on social media Thursday night. “It’s worth it.”

The delay with Blue Origin further pushes Amazon into a corner as it looks set to begin commercial operation of its satellite constellation, Amazon Leo, which aims to compete with Starlink.

Amazon has built its launch strategy to rely heavily on next-generation rockets that can launch dozens of satellites into space at once. New Glenn, for example, can accommodate 48 Amazon satellites. The rockets that have so far delivered the Leo satellites into orbit each hold between 24 and 32.

According to research firm Quilty Space, Amazon is falling victim to the industry’s launch capacity crisis, which will be exacerbated by the New Glenn explosion.

“The entire space economy has to push through the same gate,” said Kim Burke, director of government affairs at Quilty Space. “So when a rocket goes down, no matter which team you root for, we all step in.”

According to an analysis by Quilty Space, a third of the nearly 3,500 remaining satellites that Amazon has contracted to launch are set to operate on New Glenn. Even more are planned for the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from United Launch Alliance (a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin), which is also working to fix the problem with its rocket boosters.

If the problem with New Glenn ends up being Blue Origin’s engines, the Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle could also be in further jeopardy because its rockets use the same engines.

Amazon Leo was making progress in catching up with Starlink. After a year of launches, it had more than 300 satellites in orbit. Starlink has more than 10,000, according to a tracker run by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.

Amazon’s satellites have been carried by smaller rockets from SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Arianespace, a company based in France. It has signed contracts with major customers, including Delta Air Lines, and has a deal with Apple to provide satellite services for iPhones and the Apple Watch.

“When we launch this service commercially, it will be one of two offerings that are on the cutting edge of technology right now,” Andy Jassy, ​​Amazon’s chief executive, said last month.

Amazon has three smaller rocket launches planned in the coming weeks, including one planned as early as Friday night. She said Amazon Leo was still on track to begin commercial service in the fall, allowing the company to finally offset the billions it spent building the network in revenue.

But New Glenn’s delay could affect how quickly it can grow from there.

“It will remove acceleration and backup exactly as Amazon needs it,” Mr. Anderson said.

Kenneth Chang contributed reporting.