Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral on Thursday night, the second failure in six weeks for Jeff Bezos' space company and one of the largest rocket explosions in U.S. history.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral on Thursday night, the second failure in six weeks for Jeff Bezos' space company and one of the largest rocket explosions in U.S. history.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday night, destroying the vehicle on its only launch pad just days after the Federal Aviation Administration cleared it to fly following a previous failure.
"We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for," Blue Origin said in a statement posted on X. The explosion occurred around 9 p.m. ET at Space Launch Complex 36, the sole launch pad equipped for New Glenn missions. Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, said it was "too early to know the root cause" but pledged to "rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying."
The rocket was being prepared for its fourth mission, NG-4, which had been scheduled as soon as June 4 to carry 48 satellites for Amazon.com Inc.'s Leo internet service, a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. Amazon confirmed no satellites were on board during the test. The explosion marks the second major failure for New Glenn in less than two months, following the April 19 NG-3 mission where a cryogenic leak froze a hydraulic line in the upper stage, causing one of the BE-3U engines to underperform and fail to deliver its AST SpaceMobile payload to the proper orbit.
The FAA, which had grounded New Glenn after the April mishap and only accepted Blue Origin's corrective actions on May 22, said Thursday's test "was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities" and that there was no impact to air traffic. The agency's investigation into the April failure identified the root cause as a cryogenic leak that froze a hydraulic line, leading to a thrust anomaly during the second-stage engine burn. Blue Origin implemented nine corrective actions before the FAA cleared the rocket to fly again.
A Blow to NASA's Artemis and Amazon's Leo
The explosion represents the worst failure in Blue Origin's history and threatens to derail an ambitious 2026 launch manifest that included as many as 12 New Glenn missions. The company is a key contractor for NASA's Artemis lunar program, with a Blue Moon lander scheduled to launch on New Glenn as part of the Artemis III mission next year. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency will "work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets."
Amazon had positioned New Glenn as the backbone of its Leo satellite internet constellation, contracting 24 launches to deploy thousands of broadband satellites. The loss of the rocket on the pad — one of the largest U.S. rocket explosions by scale, given the vehicle was fully fueled for the static fire — will likely force a prolonged grounding while Blue Origin investigates the root cause and implements corrective measures.
Space Launch Delta 45 confirmed emergency responders were on scene and that all personnel were accounted for with no injuries or fatalities. The Eastern Range continues to support operations at other launch complexes. Elon Musk, founder of rival SpaceX, wrote on X: "Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard. I hope you recover quickly."
The timeline for New Glenn's return to flight remains unclear. Blue Origin had planned to reuse the booster from NG-3, which successfully landed on a drone ship during the April mission, for a future flight. The company's CEO Dave Limp had posted video of the NG-4 rocket being moved to the pad on the transporter erector just days before the explosion, saying the next step was integrated hotfire testing.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
