Multi-million blow for Bezos: Blue Origin rocket engine EXPLODES just 10 seconds into a firing test

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos quietly lost one of his private aerospace company Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines last month when the $7 million staged combustion device burst into a fireball during a routine test.

The accident comes just under a year after Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket failed in mid-air, a minute after launch, due to an “anomaly” last September.

The BE-4, which was scheduled to ship to Blue Origin’s customer in July, exploded about 10 seconds into the test.

The explosion was so catastrophic, according to speakers who viewed video of the June 30 accident, that it also severely damaged the test bed infrastructure surrounding the rocket motor at the company’s West Texas facility.

A Blue Origin spokesperson released a statement on Tuesday confirming rumors of the incident, but added that ‘no staff were injured’.

The US Air Force awarded Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin (pictured) $500 million in 2018 from a $2.3 billion fund to develop missile launch systems for use in national defense missions. The creation of the BE-4 engine has suffered “frustrating delays,” according to industry observers

“We are currently investigating the cause,” Blue Origin the financial network CNBC told cable news in a prepared statement. “We already have an immediate cause and are working on corrective action.”

Word of the incident came from multiple speakers familiar with operations at Blue Origin’s West Texas plant where the explosion occurred. The speakers have spoken CNBC anonymously so they could “discuss non-public matters.”

While the accident was not made public in June, Blue Origin says it notified its customer, United Launch Alliance (ULA), “immediately.”

ULA, a joint venture between military contractor Lockheed Martin and Boeing, had expected to receive the BE-4 when it finished testing for use in the company’s second Vulcan missile launch in July.

The joint venture is the main competitor of Tesla and Twitter billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, facing bids for lucrative US military launch contracts.

2018, the US Air Force has awarded $2.3 billion in contracts to Arizona’s Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop Grumman to develop missile launch systems that the military arm plans to use for national security missions.

Blue Origin received a significant portion of this funding, $500 million, although the creation of the BE-4 years of ‘frustrating delaysaccording to industry watchers.

This recent setback for the BE-4 could further delay the previously delayed launch of ULA’s first Vulcan launch as Bezos’ Blue Origin team double-checks and vets the completed and shipped BE-4s currently in use by the missile alliance .

Prior to the incident, ULA’s first Vulcan launch had already been moved to the fourth quarter of this year.

Last month, ULA passed a critical milestone in preparation for their first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert-1, a brief static test firing of their rocket using two BE-4 rocket motors.

“The BE-4 testing issue is not expected to affect our plans for the Vulcan Cert-1 mission,” a ULA spokesperson told reporters this week.

The company said the BE-4 engines Blue Origin has already supplied for Cert-1 have “successfully passed the acceptance test” and are ready for launch.

For his part, The Blue Origin spokesperson noted that the company has built two stands for its BE-4 testing and will be able to do so ‘continue testing’ in West Texas despite damage to one platform.

“We will be able to meet our engine supply commitments this year,” added Blue Origin, “and stay ahead of our customers’ launch needs.”