A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the Florida launch pad on Thursday night. The incident, which occurred at night, caused the sky to briefly turn orange and the explosion was felt by residents in nearby homes.

This marks another setback for the company’s New Glenn rocket program. The same vehicle experienced a failed mission last month, prompting an internal investigation into its performance.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, stated that it was too early to determine the root cause of the explosion. Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of the blast. The New Glenn rocket is a heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by Blue Origin.

The explosion on the launch pad raises questions about the readiness and reliability of the New Glenn program. Further investigations will be crucial in understanding the technical issues that led to this event and ensuring the safety of future launches.

Details surrounding the specific stage of the test at which the explosion occurred have not been fully disclosed. However, the visual impact of the event, described as painting the sky orange, suggests a significant energetic release.

Blue Origin, a company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, aims to reduce the cost of space access through reusable rocket technology. The New Glenn rocket is central to its ambitions for commercial satellite launches and human spaceflight.

The previous failure of the New Glenn rocket in its mission to deliver a satellite last month had already put the program under scrutiny. This latest incident adds further pressure on the company to address and rectify underlying issues.

As investigations commence, the aerospace industry will be closely watching Blue Origin’s response and its ability to overcome these recent challenges in its pursuit of space exploration and commercial launch services.