Three Days After NASA Awarded Blue Origin Anchor Moon-Base Contracts, The Rocket Meant To Be The Backbone Of Those Missions Erupted In A Mushroom Cloud Visible From East Orlando. Jeff Bezos Calls It “A Very Rough Day”
According to Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN and the Associated Press, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded in a massive fireball at Launch Complex 36 of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday evening at approximately 9 PM ET. The vehicle erupted during a hot-fire engine test while anchored to the ground; a standard pre-flight validation where engines are ignited at full thrust while the rocket remains bolted to the pad.
The firm was preparing New Glenn for its fourth launch, which was slated to deploy a batch of satellites for Amazon’s Leo constellation, a rival satellite network to SpaceX’s Starlink. None of the satellites were on the rocket when it exploded.
The rocket was destroyed. As the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the erector-gantry used to move the New Glenn from its hangar to the pad. One of two tall lightning towers was no longer visible. The cause of the explosion will await detailed analysis of telemetry and launch pad video.
Multiple fires and apparently severe damage were visible across the pad. A visible shockwave swept across the complex, and witnesses reported seeing a giant flash of orange from East Orlando, more than 50 miles away.
Jeff Bezos posted on X: “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.”
The context makes this worse. This fourth mission was supposed to be the first of 24 launches that Amazon has contracted Blue Origin for the opening delivery of what Amazon calls Project Leo. New Glenn’s third flight in April had already experienced a cryogenic failure in the upper stage, leading to the loss of a satellite. That is now two consecutive mission failures: one in flight, one on the ground before the commercial campaign has properly begun.
The explosion likely means Blue Origin will have to pause the New Glenn program for an extended period while it works through what went wrong. The pause arrives at the worst possible moment. NASA awarded Blue Origin anchor contracts for lunar landers and moon-buggy delivery just three days ago.
The setback may shift launch contracts toward rivals like Rocket Lab. SpaceX, meanwhile, operates Starlink’s 7,000-plus satellite constellation with the cadence and reliability that Blue Origin has not yet demonstrated.
The scoreboard entering this week was the most favourable it had ever been for Bezos’s space company; new NASA contracts, a rising commercial backlog, and a workforce riding the credibility of the first three New Glenn launches. As Bezos said himself: it’s worth it. But rebuilding the pad, the vehicle, and the schedule is now the only task that matters.
To check out our previous coverage on Blue Origin, NASA moon contracts, and the commercial space race, read our articles here.
