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A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes during an engine-firing test on Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (@JConcilus via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Associated Press<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n A rocket being tested by Jeff Bezos\u2019s Blue Origin dramatically exploded<\/a> on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday night. It comes just days after NASA awarded Blue Origin multiple contracts to launch payloads to the lunar surface in support of NASA\u2019s moonbase program as the space agency attempts to create a permanent lunar base.<\/p>\n The explosion occurred at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 28, during a static test fire of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn NG-4 super heavy lift rocket, named for NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. It occurred on launch pad LC-36A while the rocket\u2019s first stage was full of liquid methane. No one was injured.<\/p>\n The huge fireball, captured by NASASpaceflight.com, was perhaps the most powerful rocket explosion since the Soviet Union\u2019s N1 rocket in 1957, according to Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAll personnel are accounted for and safe,\u201d Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, posted<\/a> on X. \u201cIt\u2019s too early to know the root cause, but we\u2019re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we\u2019ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n The rocket had been due to launch 48 satellites into low-Earth orbit next week as part of the Amazon Leo broadband internet access constellation, designed to directly challenge SpaceX\u2019s Starlink constellation. It plans to deploy 3,236 satellites.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n It\u2019s the second mishap for Blue Origin in six weeks. On April 19, New Glenn launched and landed without problems for only the third time. However, it failed to deliver its payload \u2014 AST SpaceMobile’s huge BlueBird 7 satellite \u2014 into the correct orbit. The company\u2019s next three BlueBird satellites are scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-June.<\/p>\n The incidents are setbacks for the company as it attempts to challenge SpaceX for dominance in the heavy-lift rocket market.<\/p>\n Forbes<\/span>NASA Picks Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin Over SpaceX For Key Moon Base Mission<\/span>By Jamie Carter<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n Blue Origin announced<\/a> in January that it will pause its space tourism program to focus fully on its contracts with NASA to deliver a lunar lander. Its New Shepherd reusable rocket has so far taken 98 people above the K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line \u2014 the threshold between Earth and space \u2014 during 38 trips.<\/p>\n That pause appears to have been successful, with Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon lunar lander \u2014 launched on the company\u2019s New Glenn rockets \u2014 now in pole position to carry three uncrewed missions to the moon in advance of its involvement in NASA\u2019s Artemis III and IV missions. Blue Origin has an increasingly important role in NASA\u2019s Artemis Program \u2014 possibly at the expense of SpaceX \u2014 with the latest Blue Moon lunar lander, called Endurance, recently completing testing with NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\nHuge Fireball<\/h2>\n
New Glenn Rocket Mishaps<\/h2>\n
Space Tourism On Pause<\/h2>\n