Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test in Florida

CAPE CANAVERAL: A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin exploded during a late-night engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, sending shockwaves through nearby communities and briefly lighting the sky with a massive orange fireball.

The explosion occurred Thursday night during a routine engine-firing test of the company’s New Glenn rocket ahead of a planned satellite launch next week. Officials confirmed that no injuries were reported.

Blue Origin said it was too early to determine the exact cause of the incident but investigations were already underway.

“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos said in a statement posted on X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”

The New Glenn rocket had already faced setbacks earlier this year after a mission in April ended with a satellite being placed into the wrong orbit because of an engine failure. The rocket had completed only its third flight and is considered a key part of Blue Origin’s future lunar ambitions under NASA’s Artemis program.

The heavy-lift rocket is intended to transport lunar landers for NASA missions, including spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface. Earlier this week, NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to launch two lunar rovers as part of future Artemis missions.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged the challenges of spaceflight following the explosion.

“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” Isaacman wrote on X, adding that NASA would assess any possible effects on the Artemis program.

Residents in nearby Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach reported homes shaking around 9 p.m., with many taking to social media to share images and videos of the explosion near Launch Complex 36.

Emergency response teams remained at the site for more than an hour after the blast, though authorities assured the public there was no danger from toxic fumes or related hazards.

The rocket had been scheduled to launch Amazon Leo internet satellites next week. Meanwhile, officials confirmed that the explosion would not disrupt other launches from nearby facilities, including an upcoming Atlas V mission by United Launch Alliance carrying similar satellites.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, also reacted to the incident, offering support to Blue Origin and noting the challenges involved in rocket development.

Standing 321 feet tall, New Glenn is named after legendary astronaut John Glenn and is significantly larger and more powerful than Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets, which are used for suborbital space tourism flights.