The most spectacular rocket explosion since N1 just happened in Florida

In a shocking and dramatic turn of events, Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at its Florida launch site on Thursday evening. The super heavy lift rocket, which was fueled with methane, produced a massive fireball above the launch site along the Florida coast, LC-36A. The explosion was captured on video by NASASpaceflight.com on its Space Coast Live feed, which showed the conflagration that followed the destruction of the booster.

The incident marks a significant setback for Blue Origin, which had been preparing for the test fire ahead of the launch of its fourth New Glenn rocket, NG-4. The explosion is being hailed as possibly the most dramatic and powerful rocket explosion since the Soviet Union's N1 rocket was destroyed during a launch attempt in 1969. The N1 rocket, which was intended to be the Soviet Union's answer to NASA's Saturn V, suffered a catastrophic failure just 66 seconds into its maiden flight, resulting in a massive explosion that destroyed the rocket and damaged the launchpad.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket program has been working towards its maiden launch for several years, with the company aiming to use the vehicle to carry payloads and people to low Earth orbit. The explosion on Thursday evening is likely to cause significant delays and setbacks for the program. "Blue Origin's New Glenn just blew up at LC-36 while attempting to Static Fire ahead of NG-4," tweeted NASASpaceflight.com, which had been live-streaming the test fire on its social media channels.

The cause of the explosion is not yet clear, and an investigation is likely to be launched in the coming days.