Blue Origin rocket explosion damages New Glenn launchpad in Florida
Everyone working in the area was “accounted for and safe" after the New Glenn explosion, according to Jeff Bezos.
A hot fire test ended in a fiery explosion for a Blue Origin rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 28.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad Thursday night at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, lighting up the sky for miles along Florida’s Space Coast, rattling doors in nearby communities and dealing a major blow to Jeff Bezos’ private space company.
The 320-foot rocket was on the launchpad around 9 p.m. EDT as teams prepared to fire its BE-4 engines during a hot fire test ahead of the rocket’s fourth spaceflight. Video from NASASpaceflight.com cameras showed the engines briefly igniting before the rocket was engulfed in flames within seconds.
A fireball lights up the sky in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 28, 2026, after Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket suffered a mishap during an engine test. (Image: NASAspaceflight.com)
The explosion enveloped the launchpad and tower and was visible to people in surrounding communities across Brevard County.
Thousands of people in and around Cape Canaveral saw a massive explosion light up the sky when a Blue Origin rocket exploded during a hot fire test on the evening of May 28.
Bezos said on X that everyone working in the area was “accounted for and safe.”
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos continued. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
Space Force officials with Space Force Delta 45 warned people not to pick up potentially hazardous debris from the explosion that may wash up across beaches in the coming weeks.
The explosive failure came ahead of New Glenn’s fourth flight, known as NG-4, which was set to launch a batch of Amazon Leo satellites into orbit. The payload was not onboard at the time of the mishap.
It remains unclear how much damage Launch Complex 36, or LC-36, sustained at Cape Canaveral. Blue Origin has invested more than $1 billion in rebuilding the launch site, which was completed in 2021 and returned to use for the first time since the 1960s.
Blue Origin prepared to launch its New Glenn rocket carrying a pair of NASA's EscaPADE spacecraft from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month. Blue Origin is seeking permission to dump wastewater that would flow into the Indian River Lagoon, an environmentally sensitive waterway in Florida that officials are trying to restore. (Photo Credit: Joe Marino/UPI)
The setback could also raise questions about Blue Origin’s moon ambitions. The company has several NASA contracts tied to the Artemis program, including work on a lunar human landing vehicle.
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