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It was also emphasized that the ULA, the joint venture between Boeing BA and Lockheed Martin LMT, was informed about the incident immediately. Blue Origin will provide the second lunar lander for the Artemis program. The company stated it was able to identify the proximate cause and is currently working on remedial actions. NASA Taps Blue Origin for Second Lunar Lander. Company ResponseĪ spokesperson from Blue Origin confirmed the incident, stating that they “ran into an issue while testing Vulcan’s Flight Engine 3.” However, they ensured no personnel were injured and the cause of the explosion is being investigated. MIT will develop one or more payload experiments to be launched aboard Blue Origin’s Blue Moon, a flexible lander delivering a wide variety of small, medium, and large payloads to the lunar surface. The engine that exploded was planned to conclude testing in July, after which it was set to be sent to Blue Origin’s client United Launch Alliance (ULA) for deployment on their second Vulcan rocket launch. MIT and Blue Origin have signed a memorandum outlining plans to pursue mutual interests in space exploration. People familiar to the matter told CNBC that the explosion happened about 10 seconds into the test, resulting in the destruction of the engine and significant damage to the testing infrastructure. The incident, which took place on June 30 at a West Texas facility, not only impacts Blue Origin’s plans but also has potential repercussions for its customers.
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The main activities of the company include the provision of suborbital space tourism services and the delivery of cargoes to Virgin Orbit. Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company led by Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, encountered a significant obstacle after one of its BE-4 rocket engines exploded during testing. Find Blue origin stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Blue Origin is the name of the aerospace company, which was founded in the United States in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.
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