Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket recently exploded during a test run at the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to live streams from NASASpaceFlight.com and SpaceFlight Now. Blue Origin later confirmed the explosion.
Jeff Bezos’ space company has been conducting static fire tests ahead of the fourth launch of a new rocket in the coming weeks, which was supposed to carry the Amazon Leo internet satellites into space. That means the rocket was probably full of power, contributing to what is one of the largest rocket explosions in US history and the worst failure in Blue Origin’s existence.
Blue Origin said in an X post Thursday evening that “[a]all employees accounted for,” and Bezos wrote that they were “safe.” The company didn’t say what went wrong, just that a “miracle” happened.
“It’s too early to know the core but we’re already working to find it. It’s a very difficult day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs to be rebuilt and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” Bezos wrote.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a post last Thursday that the agency “will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess the near-term implications, and then return to launching rockets.”
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told TechCrunch that it was aware of the explosion and said there was “no impact on air traffic.” NASA and the Space Force did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The explosion likely means Blue Origin will have to suspend the New Glenn rocket program for an extended period of time while it works on what went wrong. Blue Origin was planning to attempt as many as 12 launches of the New Glenn this year, after the company spent nearly a decade developing it in an effort to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The company is also supposed to help power NASA’s Artemis mission to the moon, and the agency highlighted Blue Origin’s expected role in that program earlier this week. Isaacman said Thursday that NASA “will provide any implications for the Artemis and Moon Base programs as they become available.”
Blue Origin was also intended to launch the Pentagon’s national security campaign.
“Great misfortune. Rockets are difficult,” Elon Musk wrote on X shortly after the explosion. “I hope he recovers quickly.”
The explosion comes just weeks after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket flew for the third time. That mission failed on its own when New Glenn’s upper stage failed to put the AST SpaceMobile satellite into orbit, resulting in a complete loss of mission. Last week, the FAA cleared New Glenn to fly again after Blue Origin completed an investigation into the cause of the failure.
A very new, late rocket
Blue Origin has spent years developing the New Glenn while using its New Shepard program to test small sub-orbital rockets. While New Shepard has carried dozens of rich people and celebrities (and some scientific equipment) to the edges of space, Blue Origin has been working behind the scenes to develop a rocket that can put real commercial payloads like large satellites into orbit.
That mission took a long time — longer than Blue Origin expected — but it finally came to a head in January 2025, when the company flew New Glenn for the first time.
The New Glenn proved to be a successful rocket right off the bat. It reached orbit during that first flight, though the booster stage exploded before Blue Origin attempted to land it by drone on the ocean.
Blue Origin was even more successful with the second New Glenn flight, however, in November 2025. During that mission the company launched twin spacecraft to Mars for NASA. Blue Origin also lowered its first stage during the second New Glenn mission.
That allowed the company to re-fly the booster on New Glenn’s third mission, not only demonstrating the ability to recover the first stage, but refurbishing it for reuse — a key step in reducing the overall cost of operating the launch business.
The recycled rocket booster did not have problems flying again, and even landed a second time on one of Blue Origin’s drone ships, during the third New Glenn mission in April 2026. But the company experienced a cryogenic failure in the upper stage during the third mission, which led to the loss of the satellite.
This upcoming fourth mission was supposed to be the first of 24 Amazon contracts with Blue Origin. Amazon is currently building a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network, which it calls Leo. On Wednesday, Amazon revealed its ability to rely on Blue Origin to build the network, calling the New Glenn “a versatile and heavy-duty rocket.”
Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch last Thursday that no Leo satellites were aboard the test.
Late Thursday, Congressman Mike Haridopolos (R-FL), who represents the home state of Cape Canaveral, wrote to X that he spoke with NASA administrator Jared Isaacman about the explosion.
“I’m thankful that there were no injuries reported and I thank the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who worked so quickly. Prayers for Florida’s Space Coast and all involved,” he said.
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