'Good news' for space travel as Blue Origin deals with aftermath of huge rocket explosion

Blue Origin will try to relaunch New Glenn, its huge rocket that exploded spectacularly last week, within the year.

The 97-metre-tall rocket erupted in a massive fireball during a firing test on the launchpad, causing nearby houses to shake and the sky to turn briefly orange, according to eyewitness reports.

It was one of the biggest rocket explosions in US history - luckily, nobody was hurt.

There was speculation that Blue Origin would struggle to relaunch the rocket before 2027, due to the level of damage not only to the rocket itself but also to the launchpad and surrounding infrastructure.

The launchpad damaged in the fire is the only one Blue Origin has that can support New Glenn.

Blue Origin has not said what caused the explosion; however, Dave Limp, the company's chief executive, shared "a bit of good news".

It appears the damage is not as extensive as previously thought.

"The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape," said Mr Limp in a post on X.

"This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good."

"The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced," he said.

A previously-flown booster called "Never Tell Me The Odds" and three upper stages were also onsite but "look good" according to Mr Limp.

The company was planning to retire its current system for transporting rockets to the launchpad and standing them up in favour of a new system.

The explosion means they'll move to the new system now instead of replacing the existing transporter-erector that was damaged in the fire.

All of this means New Glenn "will fly again before the end of this year," according to Mr Limp, who finished his post with the Blue Origin motto "Gradatim Ferociter", meaning "step by step, ferociously".

If Mr Limp's optimism is correct, it'll be good news for NASA, which is relying on Blue Origin to help it get humans back on the moon.

Just two days before the rocket exploded, NASA awarded Blue Origin the contract to take moon buggies to the lunar surface as part of its plans to build a permanent base on the lunar south pole.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement after the explosion: "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult."

He said the space agency would "support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets".

(c) Sky News 2026: 'Good news' for space travel as Blue Origin deals with aftermath of huge rocket explosion