CAPE CANAVERAL, United States — A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on its launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, May 28, 2026, evening during a ground test.
Blue Origin described the incident as an anomaly during a hotfire test, which is a procedure in which a rocket’s engines are ignited while the vehicle remains secured to the ground.
This development dealt a significant setback to the company as it worked to return the vehicle to flight following an earlier mission failure.
Video footage captured from the vicinity of the launch complex appeared to show the rocket exploding on the pad.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, said in a post on X that no one had been hurt.
“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” he wrote.
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 29, 2026
A troubled recent history
The explosion comes at a particularly difficult moment for the company.
Blue Origin had only this week announced plans to return New Glenn to flight following a failed third mission on 19 April, in which the rocket’s second stage did not successfully deliver AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite to its intended orbit.
The first stage booster had landed safely on a seafaring barge during that mission, but the upper stage’s inability to complete its task prompted a Federal Aviation Administration investigation.
New Glenn’s fourth mission, which the Thursday test was intended to support, had been planned to carry 48 satellites into orbit as part of Amazon’s Leo broadband constellation.
Federal response
The FAA confirmed it was aware of the incident but noted the test had fallen outside the scope of its licensed activities.
“The FAA is aware that the Blue Origin New Glenn vehicle experienced an anomaly during a static fire test on the pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida around 9 p.m. local time on May 28,” the agency said.
“This test was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities. There was no impact to air traffic.”
NASA chief Jared Isaacman also responded, saying the agency would work with its partners to support a thorough investigation and assess any effects on near-term missions.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” Isaacman wrote on X.
“We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
NASA is aware of the anomaly that occurred tonight at Launch Complex 36 involving Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. ⁰⁰Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with…
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) May 29, 2026
Blue Origin did not respond to requests for further comment beyond Bezos’s post.
