Jeff Bezos' space travel company Blue Origin suffered the first launch accident in company history on Monday (September 12). A booster on the New Shepard rocket failed about one minute after liftoff, forcing Blue Origin to abort the mission.
There were no crew members onboard the rocket, which was only carrying a capsule with experiments. The rocket was traveling at roughly 700 mph and was at an altitude of 28,000 feet when the booster malfunctioned.
The capsule was detached from the failing rocket and parachuted safely to the ground. It is unclear if any of the 36 experiments onboard were damaged. The rocket also crashed into the ground, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
Blue Origin said it is investigating the cause of the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident and said that the New Shepard rockets are grounded until their investigation is complete.
The launch was the 23rd flight for the New Shepard program and the ninth for the specific rocket.
Blue Origin shared a video on Twitter of the failed launch and the capsule crashing into the ground.
"Booster failure on today's uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed," the company wrote.