Blue Origin rocket explodes on the launch pad during an engine-firing test
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 18, 2026.
John Raoux/AP
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John Raoux/AP
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the launch pad Thursday night, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange.
Blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test being conducted ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week. No one was hurt, according to officials at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos said via X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
The massive New Glenn was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit because of engine failure. It was only the third flight of the rocket that Blue Origin intends to use to launch landers to the moon for NASA, including the landers that will take astronauts to the lunar surface.
The company had been on track to launch a prototype lunar lander to the moon on a flight test this fall. Earlier this week, the space agency awarded Blue Origin a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a pair of moon buggies in the next few years as part of the Artemis program.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said via X. He promised to provide information on any impacts to the Artemis program, including the moon base that he recently outlined.
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes during an engine-firing test on Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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Homes shook in nearby Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach around 9 p.m., with residents turning to social media to wonder what happened. Launch Complex 36 is visible from the beach, and the internet quickly filled with photos of an orange fireball.
The rocket was supposed to blast off next week with internet satellites that are part of the Amazon Leo constellation in orbit.
Emergency crews remained more than an hour after the explosion. Officials stressed there was no threat due to fumes or other potential hazards.
Space Force officials said the explosion would not affect upcoming launches by other companies from other pads. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is due to blast off Friday night with a batch of Amazon Leo satellites, the same kind that this rocket was supposed to take up.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who’s had his own share of rocket explosions, offered his condolences. “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” he told Blue Origin via X.
Towering at 321 feet (98 meters), New Glenn made its debut in 2025. It is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, and is much bigger and more powerful than the New Shepard rockets that have carried tourists to the fringes of space from Texas.
The bigger issue here is a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 18, 2026. That changes the calculation.
The bigger issue here is blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test being conducted ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week. That changes the calculation.
Think about it: blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test being conducted ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week. That speaks volumes.
Think about it: the company had been on track to launch a prototype lunar lander to the moon on a flight test this fall. That speaks volumes.
Still waiting to hear what Blue Origin actually plans to do about it.
New Glenn is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
Reading that cAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the launch pad Thursday night, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange — hard to argue with the logic there.
Cape Canaveral has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
Cape Canaveral is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
So the bottom line is the massive New Glenn was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit because of engine failure. Wonder how this will land.
When you look at blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test being conducted ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week, the implications are hard to ignore.
The detail about the massive New Glenn was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit because of engine failure is something people should sit with.
Still waiting to hear what New Glenn actually plans to do about it.
When you look at cAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the launch pad Thursday night, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange, the implications are hard to ignore.
On one hand a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 18, 2026. But at the same time cAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the launch pad Thursday night, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange.