Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad during test

The new first stage for an upcoming Blue Origin New Glenn mission exploded on the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday night.

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more,” Blue Origin posted on X.

Video captured by Spaceflightnow.com and posted to X showed the rocket stage vertical at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 being engulfed in flames. The fireball expands out and covers the entire launch pad as the fuselage of the rocket can be seen crumbling into the flames.

The lost hardware was the third ever New Glenn first stage manufactured at Blue Origin’s rocket factory in nearby Merritt Island. It had been tapped for what would have been Blue Origin’s next flight, NG-4, that was slated to fly as early as next week.

That was going to be the first of 24 missions to fly up satellites as part of the Amazon Leo broadband constellation.

With the explosion, New Glenn won’t be flying anytime soon, though, as repairs will be needed at the launch pad. This is the only launch complex available for Jeff Bezos’ big rocket.

The base of the stage is outfitted with seven of the company’s BE-4 engines, which would also have been destroyed.

The company does still have one flight-proven first stage available, though, which flew both New Glenn’s second and third missions, and made recovery landings downrange in the Atlantic after launch.

The company’s first New Glenn first stage was lost during its first-ever launch in January 2025, as it was not able to make the recovery landing.

The heavy-lift rocket was just cleared to fly by the Federal Aviation Administration last week after a different issue on its third flight, NG-3, in which the upper stage was not able to put its payload into the correct orbit after one of its two engines malfunctioned.

Blue Origin CEO Jeff Limp had indicated earlier this year that his goal was to fly at least eight New Glenn missions this year.

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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 8:46 PM.