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Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 28, sending a wall of light across the Florida Space Coast and turning a routine pre-launch procedure into a very expensive fireball.
The explosion occurred around 9:00 p.m. ET at Launch Complex 36. No injuries were reported, but the blast caused significant infrastructural damage, including the collapse of a lightning tower near the pad. The rocket’s seven BE-4 engines were being tested ahead of the planned NG-4 mission, which was supposed to carry Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites into orbit. Those satellites, fortunately, were not aboard during the test.
New Glenn stands 322 feet tall. Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, which Blue Origin designed and also supplies to United Launch Alliance for the Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Blue Origin described the event as an “anomaly.” The company confirmed that personnel safety was its top priority and that all workers were accounted for.
The FAA and other authorities have initiated investigations into the incident.
This isn’t an isolated stumble. The explosion follows a previous New Glenn mission failure just a month earlier, in April 2026.
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, has New Glenn positioned as a competitor in the heavy-lift launch market. New Glenn is also central to Blue Origin’s involvement in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon. NASA selected Blue Origin to build a lunar lander variant.
The NG-4 mission was specifically tied to Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a satellite constellation designed to provide broadband internet from low Earth orbit.
Because Blue Origin supplies BE-4 engines to ULA’s Vulcan Centaur as well, any design flaw identified in the investigation could have implications beyond just New Glenn.
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