Jeff Bezos Blue Origin Rocket Suffers Launch Failure

Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin just faced a setback after one of the company's New Shephard rockets suffered a failure around a minute after launch.

The rocket's engine fired when it wasn't supposed to. Even people who aren't rocket scientists can tell you that that's not the kind of thing you're looking for.

This led to the abort system getting an unexpected dress rehearsal.

That's making some lemonade out of a lemon of a rocket launch.

The remnants of the spacecraft slammed into the Texas desert. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.

However, the FAA is going to investigate the incident, which it calls a "mishap," an understatement when we're talking about a multi-billion dollar spacecraft.

"Before the New Shepard vehicle can return to flight, the FAA will determine whether any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety," the statement read. "This is standard practice for all mishap investigations."

This means it looks like Bezos' fleet of phallic-shaped rockets are on the bench until further notice.

Somewhere Elon Musk is laughing.

This Could Be A Setback In Bezos' Rivalry With Fellow Rich Guy Elon Musk

The two billionaires are engaged in a space race. That's something countries used to do, now, rich guys do it because they're bored.

Their rivalry goes beyond the final frontier and into everything they do, and why shouldn't it? Everyone needs a rival and if you're Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk is the only guy ahead of you in anything.

If you're Elon Musk, it just seems fun to mess with Jeff Bezos.

For instance, Bezos just released a new Lord of the Rings TV series, because that's what you do if you're a nerd with more money than you know what to do with,

Musk — another ûber-nerd — took it upon himself to rag on ol' Jeffy B's Lord of the Ring show because he could.

Sure, Musk is throwing shots now, but you have to think that he was bummed when Bezo's out-nerded him and sent William Shatner to space.

Sending Captain Kirk to space for real had to have netted Bezos some major geek street-cred.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle