A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket erupted into flames during a late-night engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, marking a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ space company.

News.com reports that dramatic live footage captured the towering rocket exploding into a massive fireball shortly after 9pm local time during a scheduled “hotfire test,” a procedure in which the rocket’s engines are ignited while the vehicle remains secured to the launch pad.

Blue Origin later confirmed the incident, describing it as an “anomaly” during testing. The company said all personnel were safe and accounted for.

The explosion quickly gained traction online, drawing reactions from across the aerospace industry — including SpaceX founder Elon Musk, whose own company has endured multiple high-profile rocket failures.

Read more: Techbytes: Zambia targets digital hub status as govt signs AI partnership with Huawei

“Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard,” Musk posted on X. His brief comment sparked widespread discussion online, with many users speculating that the billionaire entrepreneur was quietly amused by the mishap involving his chief commercial rival.

“We know you were smiling a little as you wrote that,” Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman replied.

Others questioned whether any company could realistically challenge SpaceX’s dominance in the private space industry.

“Why would anyone try to compete with SpaceX at this point?” one user wrote.

Some social media users, however, interpreted Musk’s reaction as a rare moment of camaraderie between two tech billionaires competing in the modern space race.

“Guys, we’re witnessing the beginning of a friendship,” another commenter joked.

The incident occurred at Space Launch Complex 36, currently the only facility capable of launching Blue Origin’s giant New Glenn rockets.

The 320-foot vehicle had been preparing for its fourth mission, which was expected to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband network.

Blue Origin confirmed that no satellites were onboard during the test.

Video from the scene showed thick smoke billowing across the launch site as a yellow haze spread around the damaged rocket moments after the blast.

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.