Amazon’s satellite internet chief addresses Blue Origin explosion: Read the memo

**From Business Insider’s Eugene Kim:** 
Amazon’s satellite internet chief sent a memo to staff addressing last week’s dramatic Blue Origin rocket explosion, which threatens to disrupt the internet giant’s most important space project.

The explosion occurred Thursday during a hot-fire test of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral. The rocket erupted into a massive fireball on the launch pad ahead of a planned mission that was expected to carry some of Amazon’s operational internet satellites.

No injuries were reported, but the blast appears to have caused significant damage to Blue Origin’s launch infrastructure. The company called the incident an “anomaly,” and founder Jeff Bezos later described it as a “very rough day.”

…

In an email to Amazon employees, Rajeev Badyal, the VP overseeing Amazon’s Leo satellite program, cautioned that it was too early to speculate about the cause of the Blue Origin explosion or its potential effects, adding that such challenges are an expected part of spaceflight.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time and it’s worth saying: Spaceflight is hard, and setbacks happen,” Badyal wrote. Business Insider obtained a copy of his memo.

Badyal sought to reassure employees that Amazon’s satellites were not destroyed in the explosion. He said the satellites “were not on the vehicle” and remained secure at the company’s processing facility at Kennedy Space Center.

He also stressed that Amazon’s broader launch strategy remains intact. The company has contracted with multiple providers, including United Launch Alliance and ArianeSpace, and Badyal said the team’s focus on upcoming launches won’t change.

[Read the full memo. ](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-blue-origin-rocket-explosion-memo-leo-starlink-spacex-2026-6?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-space-sub-post)

They have a deadline of July 31, and I believe they are short 1000’s of satellites.

“Spaceflight is hard, and setbacks happen”.

Riiight…. Time will tell what led to this.

They may not want to say SpaceX’s name when talking about other launch providers, but SpaceX is their only hope. If they were just using SpaceX, they’d need about 55 Falcon 9 launches to finish launching the 3 thousand satellites required by July 2026. They obviously won’t make 2026, but I bet SpaceX could do 55 launches by July 2027 (the only question being whether SpaceX would want to slow down their Starlink deployment).

That would cost Amazon about $4 billion. I suspect that’s cheaper than any other option they have. But even if it isn’t, I strongly suspect getting their satellites in orbit and making money would be worth it. SpaceX is making a shit ton of money off Starlink, so it really feels like getting satellites in orbit and making money should be Amazon’s goal.