Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on Thursday evening, May 28, 2026, at approximately 9:00 PM ET.
The incident happened during a static fire test involving the ignition of the rocket's first stage engine.
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A static fire test is a crucial procedure to ensure rocket readiness before a launch, but this time it ended in an "anomaly," as Blue Origin described it.
The rocket that exploded was supposed to be used for New Glenn's fourth mission (NG-4), which will launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo internet service.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos immediately confirmed via his platform X that all personnel involved in the test were safe and there were no reports of injuries.
Nevertheless, the incident is a significant setback for the company and has the potential to delay several important missions, including those related to NASA's lunar landing program.
New Glenn Rocket Explosion Rocks Cape Canaveral
A massive explosion occurred at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on Thursday evening, May 28, 2026, at approximately 9:00 PM ET.
The incident involved Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, which was undergoing a routine static fire test.
The test was intended to test the rocket's seven BE-4 first-stage engines prior to launch.
Fire was reportedly still burning on the launch pad more than two hours after the explosion, indicating extensive damage to the infrastructure.
Blue Origin responded quickly, calling the incident an "anomaly" and promising to provide an update after further investigation.
While the material damage was extensive, the good news is that there were no fatalities or injuries, according to Blue Origin.
Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin's founder, personally conveyed at X that all his team members were safe.
All personnel are accounted for and safe. 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.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 29, 2026
Impact of the Explosion on Future Missions
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explosion marks a major setback for Blue Origin's space exploration ambitions.
The New Glenn rocket is a key component of Blue Origin's plans for a lunar base and will launch the Blue Moon Mark 1 and Mark 2 lunar landers.
The impact of this incident also extends to NASA's space program.
The US space agency has selected New Glenn to launch the Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander mission in early 2026 and late 2027.
New Glenn is also scheduled to launch the Blue Moon Pathfinder mission in September 2026.
Before the incident, the New Glenn rocket had just received clearance to fly again from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after being previously grounded.
The grounding followed an anomaly in its second stage during launch on April 19, 2026, that caused AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite to be placed in the wrong orbit.
Get to Know Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket
New Glenn is a family of launch vehicles developed by Blue Origin, the private space technology company founded by Jeff Bezos.
The rocket is named in honor of John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth.
Development of New Glenn began before 2013 and was officially announced to the public in 2016.
At over 98 meters (320 feet) tall, New Glenn is one of the largest launch vehicles ever built.
The rocket is designed in two primary configurations: the operational 7x2 and the developmental 9x4.
It is powered by seven advanced BE-4 engines, while the second stage uses two BE-3U engines to propel the payload into orbit.
After launching the payload, the first stage will land vertically in the ocean on a dedicated landing vessel called Landing Platform Vessel 1 (Jacklyn).
New Glenn has an impressive payload capacity, capable of carrying more than 13 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO).
The super heavy-lift version of New Glenn 9x4, currently under development, will be capable of launching more than 70,000 kilograms (150,000 lb) to LEO.