In a move that can only be described as dramatic even by rocket standards, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, during a May 28 hotfire test. The explosion destroyed the rocket and caused extensive damage to the pad at Launch Complex 36, proving once again that space is hard and fire is enthusiastic.
The incident occurred at approximately 9 p.m. Eastern during a static-fire test of the rocket's first stage. Blue Origin and the Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, which operates the Eastern Range, confirmed that no injuries occurred - which is probably the only good news to come out of this particular inferno. Videos captured a massive explosion just after the stage's seven BE-4 engines ignited, creating a giant fireball that enveloped the pad like a very angry, very expensive sunset.
"We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test," Blue Origin said in a statement on social media, deploying the aerospace industry's favorite euphemism for "things blew up spectacularly." "All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more." Founder Jeff Bezos added his own touch of billionaire stoicism: "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."
It remains unclear how much damage the explosion did to LC-36, though videos suggest one of the lightning towers by the pad is no longer standing. Expect significant damage to other pad infrastructure, because when a rocket explodes, it tends not to be subtle about it. New Glenn's first stage uses methane and liquid oxygen propellants - a combination whose explosive yield has been under study for years by NASA, the FAA, and the Space Force. Those propellants are also used by SpaceX's Starship and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan, and there had been concerns that vehicles of this size could damage neighboring pads in an explosion. Turns out, those concerns were justified.
This is the worst explosion at Cape Canaveral since a Falcon 9 exploded at Space Launch Complex 40 during preparations for a static-fire test in September 2016. That explosion caused significant damage to the pad, which didn't return to service until December 2017. History, it seems, has a sense of humor - just not the laughing kind.
The vehicle was on the pad for tests ahead of the rocket's return to flight on the NG-4 mission, carrying a set of Amazon Leo broadband satellites. The FAA gave its approval for launches to resume on May 22 after Blue Origin completed an investigation into the NG-3 launch on April 19, when an upper-stage malfunction stranded a satellite in a low, unrecoverable orbit. Blue Origin had been preparing for an NG-4 launch as soon as June 4. That timeline is now, shall we say, optimistic.
The explosion is a blow not just to Blue Origin but also to customers and NASA. Amazon was Blue Origin's largest commercial customer, with 24 launches under contract to deploy at least 48 satellites per launch for its 3,200-satellite Amazon Leo constellation. AST SpaceMobile, whose BlueBird 7 satellite was lost on the NG-3 mission, also planned to rely heavily on New Glenn for deploying its direct-to-device satellites. New Glenn is also playing a major role in NASA's Artemis lunar exploration effort, with a launch scheduled for this fall carrying Blue Origin's first Blue Moon Mark 1 uncrewed lunar lander - a mission NASA renamed Moon Base 1 at a May 26 event. A second Blue Moon Mark 1 lander is planned for 2027 carrying NASA's VIPER lunar rover.
At the May 26 event, NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract to launch two rovers, developed by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, on separate Blue Moon Mark 1 landers. Those landers would be delivered to the moon before the Artemis 4 crewed lunar landing in 2028. The explosion could also affect Artemis 3, the next crewed mission, which is intended to operate in low Earth orbit, docking with prototypes of SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 crewed lunar landers. Blue Moon Mark 2, like Mark 1, is designed to launch on New Glenn.
"Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement after the explosion, in what may be the understatement of the year. "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."