Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded dramatically overnight Friday on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida during a test, in what appeared to be a setback for Jeff Bezos’ space venture as it seeks to close the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Video published by the YouTube channel NASASpaceflight, which livestreams space launches from Florida, showed the New Glenn rocket igniting on the launch pad at about 4 a.m. Israel time, or 9 p.m. Thursday on the U.S. East Coast, before turning into a huge fireball that rose into the sky and sent columns of flames and smoke high into the air.
Blue Origin launcher explodes during launch
(Video: Section 27A)
Blue Origin said an “anomaly” had occurred, using the term space companies typically employ to describe a launch failure or explosion.
“We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more,” the company said in a post on X.
The rocket exploded during a stage in which its engines are fired at full power while the vehicle remains fixed to the ground and is not launched into space. Bezos wrote on X that it was “too early to know the root cause.”
“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” he added.
Blue Origin said Wednesday it was preparing to use New Glenn to launch five to eight Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit as part of an effort to build a satellite internet network to compete with Musk’s Starlink. The company did not provide a launch date. It was also not clear whether the satellites were atop the rocket at the time of the explosion.
Blue Origin has invested billions of dollars and about a decade in developing New Glenn, a rocket about 29 stories tall with a reusable first stage, designed to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon family of launch vehicles.
Musk responded on X to video of the New Glenn explosion, writing: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.” As in every case involving a failure and explosion, the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to open an investigation.
New Glenn, which first launched into space in January 2025, is a heavy-lift rocket designed to carry payloads of 45 tons into Earth orbit and smaller payloads to other orbits, as well as to the moon and other planets. Development of New Glenn continued through the tenures of three different Blue Origin CEOs and faced numerous delays.
In late 2023, Bezos accelerated activity at Blue Origin, prioritizing development of New Glenn and its BE-4 engines. He appointed Dave Limp, a former senior Amazon executive, as CEO. Employees said Limp brought with him a sense of urgency to compete with SpaceX. New Glenn is twice as powerful as SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and the company has dozens of contracts for future launches worth billions of dollars.