Blue Origin, the space enterprise owned by Jeff Bezos, experienced its first explosive rocket launch failure on Monday.
An escape system was activated, ejecting the crew capsule from the flaming booster. The capsule landed in the Texan desert, supported by three parachutes. The mission was crewless and contained dozens of experiments.
In a statement, Blue Origin said the “capsule escape system functioned as designed.” So, despite this being an unfortunate turn of events, it is probably a relief for all upcoming space tourists to know their safety mechanisms are effective.
What went wrong?
It is not yet known what caused the engine to fail. However, the company has said it will conduct a thorough investigation. In the meantime, it has grounded all future launches.
All in all, it was a pretty eventful day for Blue Origin. What started as a routine test launch ended with a fiery explosion and a parachute-assisted landing in the desert. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and all of the experiments on board were completed. Here’s hoping Blue Origin can figure out what went wrong and return to the stars soon.
