Jeff Bezos-backed commercial space flight company Blue Origin‘s outer space goals hit a setback as the flagship New Glenn rocket exploded during Thursday’s static fire test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

New Glenn Explodes, Elon Musk Reacts

An X handle Spaceflight Now shared a video of the incident, which showed the rocket getting engulfed in flames, followed by an explosion at Launch Complex 36.

Blue Origin shared an update on X, saying that they recorded an anomaly, which prompted a response from Musk. “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” the SpaceX CEO said in his response.

Bezos, meanwhile, shared that all personnel were “accounted for and safe,” but acknowledged that Blue Origin did not know the “root cause” behind the failure. “Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding,” he said.

SpaceX Conducts Starship Test

SpaceX recently conducted the successful launch test of the Starship V3 following multiple delays. The Musk-led company’s upcoming IPO then received backing from investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki, who hailed the achievement as the “perfect timing” for the IPO.

However, the company could trim its targeted valuation to $1.8 trillion, from a previously reported $2 trillion figure. Notably, Musk had previously confirmed that SpaceX would be targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation for the IPO, set to take place in June this year.

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