Blue Origin Still in Running for Top Satellite Launches, US Says

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin LLC remains eligible to be certified for bidding against Elon Musk’s SpaceX for lucrative US military space launches after last week’s launchpad explosion, the Space Force’s acquisition branch said.

The Blue Origin incident — when its centerpiece New Glenn orbital-class rocket exploded in a massive fireball while undergoing a test on a Florida launchpad last Thursday — didn’t occur during a launch, and was intended as a final hot fire test prior to the launch, the Space Force said in a statement to Bloomberg News.

Damage aftermath from Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explosion in Cape Canaveral, Florida in May.

Photographer: Scott Schilke/SipaUSA/AP Photo

Because the explosion didn’t occur during a certification ...