Blue Origin’s powerful New Glenn rocket exploded in a massive fireball during a routine prelaunch engine test in Florida, marking a major setback for the company’s space ambitions and potentially affecting future moon missions.
The incident took place late on May 28 at Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a “hotfire” test, where the rocket’s engines are briefly ignited while the vehicle remains secured to the launch pad. Videos shared online showed a huge explosion lighting up the night sky along Florida’s Space Coast.
Blue Origin later confirmed the incident in a statement, calling it an “anomaly” during testing. The company said all personnel were accounted for and no injuries were reported.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos also addressed the explosion on social media, saying the company would rebuild damaged systems and continue flying missions despite the setback.
The New Glenn rocket is one of Blue Origin’s most important projects. Standing around 320 feet tall, the heavy-lift rocket is designed to carry satellites, cargo, and future lunar missions into space. It is also expected to play a key role in Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually build a long-term lunar base.
The rocket is meant to launch Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lunar lander, one of the spacecraft selected by Nasa for future Artemis moon missions. Earlier this week, Nasa also announced plans involving Blue Moon for delivering robotic lunar rovers to the Moon’s south pole region ahead of future astronaut landings.
The failed test could now create delays for several upcoming missions. New Glenn’s fourth mission was expected to launch on June 4 and carry 49 satellites for Amazon’s internet constellation project. The rocket had been undergoing final engine testing before that launch attempt.
The accident may also affect Blue Origin’s planned robotic lunar mission later this year using the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, which is intended to demonstrate landing technologies for future crewed moon missions.
Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged the incident and stressed that developing heavy-lift rockets remains extremely difficult. He said Nasa would work closely with Blue Origin to investigate the cause and evaluate possible impacts on Artemis and Moon Base plans.
New Glenn has flown only three times so far, and the programme has already faced technical challenges. During its third launch in April, the rocket reportedly failed to place a communications satellite into the correct orbit, leading to a temporary review by regulators.
The extent of damage to Launch Complex 36 is still unclear. Since it is currently the only launch pad used for New Glenn missions, significant repairs could ground the rocket programme for an extended period.
