Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded during a pre-launch engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the night of May 28, 2026, destroying the vehicle and most of Launch Complex 36 — the company’s only New Glenn launch pad. No injuries were reported. NASA had awarded Blue Origin a $188 million Moon Base contract the day before.
The explosion was New Glenn’s second consecutive mission failure. One month earlier, NASA grounded the entire New Glenn fleet after an upper-stage engine anomaly on the third flight left a satellite in the wrong orbit. The rocket has flown three times and has not successfully completed a payload delivery since its second flight.
Engineers fueled the rocket and ignited the first stage engines around 9 p.m. EDT as a standard hotfire test ahead of a satellite deployment mission scheduled for June 4. Something failed at the base of the vehicle during ignition. The upper stage tilted, the first stage collapsed, and the rocket exploded in a fireball visible from Cocoa Beach. Residents reported feeling the blast shake their homes. None of the 48 Amazon Leo satellites scheduled for the mission were aboard.
Aerial photographs taken Friday morning showed heaps of crumpled metal where the pad complex stood. One tower and the water tank remained. Emergency officials warned the public to avoid debris washing ashore.
“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wrote on X. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” Blue Origin’s X account confirmed the anomaly and said the company would provide updates as information became available.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman responded the same night. “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” Isaacman said on X. “We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets. We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”
On May 27, NASA had selected Blue Origin and New Glenn to deliver two commercial lunar terrain vehicles to the Moon by 2028 and awarded the separate $188 million Moon Base construction contract. Both programs now have no pad and no functioning rocket behind them.
The U.S. Space Force confirmed no threat to air traffic and no impact to launches by other companies from other pads. The FAA told Spaceflight Now the static fire was not within the scope of FAA-licensed activities and would not trigger a new investigation. Root cause remains unknown. No return-to-flight timeline has been announced.
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