The upper portion of one rocket crumpled into itself, in part due to worker error, while it was being moved to a storage hangar. It was moved from hot and humid conditions outdoors an into an air-conditioned storage hangar. It then collapsed like a crushed coke can.

In a separate incident, another upper rocket portion failed during stress testing and exploded.

New Glenn is designed to compete with SpaceX Falcon Heavy and is four years late.

Blue Origin is trying to launch NASA Escapade mission to Mars. It needs to launch in October, 2024 when the Mars launch window is open. Mars and Earth get aligned every two years.

The two mishaps involved hardware for the second and third flights of the New Glenn rocket, which are supposed to happen after the October debut.

NASA Escapade will send twin spacecraft that will study the Mars magnetic field.