A New Glenn rocket erupted in a massive fireball during a pre-launch test, marking yet another major setback for Blue Origin as it struggles to resume operations of its partially reusable vehicle.
New Glenn exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday night, sending a towering cloud of flames toward the sky. The company later confirmed that the rocket experienced an anomaly during a hot fire test, Blue Origin wrote on X.
Blue Origin’s founder Jeff Bezos also stated that the company’s personnel were all accounted for and safe. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos wrote on X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying.”
Rocket, interrupted
New Glenn was being prepped to launch a batch of Amazon’s Leo satellites for its fourth mission, NG-4. Blue Origin recently received clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume flights of its New Glenn rocket following a previous mishap.
During its third mission on April 19, the rocket’s second stage suffered a malfunction, causing New Glenn to place its payload in a lower orbit than planned. The anomaly led to the loss of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite, part of a constellation designed to provide direct connectivity to smartphones.
Blue Origin completed an investigation into the anomaly, and the FAA approved its report. The company was aiming to quickly get back to New Glenn’s busy launch schedule. “NG-4 preparations continue—updates coming soon,” Blue Origin wrote on X.
A not-so-smooth comeback
Thursday’s explosion took place during ground tests of the propulsion system ahead of New Glenn’s upcoming launch. A hot fire test, or static fire, is when a rocket’s engines are ignited at full power while the vehicle remains tethered to the launch pad.
At this point, it’s hard to assess exactly how much damage was done to the launchpad or how long it will take for New Glenn to resume operations once again.
The recent setback comes at a time when NASA is heavily relying on Blue Origin as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The company is slated to deliver a suite of instruments and lunar terrain vehicles to the Moon and provide a human landing system for NASA astronauts to reach the lunar surface.
In a post on X, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that the agency is aware of the incident. “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. 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,” Isaacman wrote. ”We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”
Since its early development phase, New Glenn has suffered multiple setbacks that have repeatedly delayed its inaugural launch. The rocket finally made its debut in January 2025, and its second flight in November of that same year went off without a hitch. Things were looking good for the heavy-lift vehicle, until it stumbled on its third mission.
The failed hot fire test deals another major blow to Blue Origin’s New Glenn, which may take a little longer to recover this time.
