Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Test in Florida Blue Origin’s most powerful rocket, New Glenn, has suffered a spectacular ground-test failure in Florida, raising fresh questions about the company’s ambitious launch schedule and its role in NASA’s return-to-the-moon plans.

On Thursday evening at Launch Complex 36A in Cape Canaveral, Blue Origin conducted a static fire test of New Glenn ahead of its fourth launch, which was expected to carry Amazon’s Kuiper internet satellites. Shortly after engine ignition, the first stage—powered by seven methane-fueled BE-4 engines—erupted in a massive fireball that observers have called “the most dramatic and powerful rocket explosion since the Soviet Union’s N1 rocket was destroyed during a launch attempt in 1969.”

Live streams from independent space trackers captured the conflagration in real time, and Blue Origin soon confirmed that an “anomaly” had occurred during the test. The rocket was likely fully fueled, contributing to what has been described as “one of the largest rocket explosions in U.S. history and the worst failure in Blue Origin’s existence.”

In the immediate aftermath, the company reported that all workers were safe and accounted for. Founder Jeff Bezos acknowledged the scale of the disaster but emphasized recovery, saying it was “too early to know the root cause” while vowing they would “rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying.”

Regulators and government partners moved quickly into assessment mode. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was aware of the explosion and reported “no impact to air traffic,” while NASA leadership pledged to support a “thorough investigation” and to evaluate near-term mission impacts.

The failure comes just weeks after an upper-stage issue doomed New Glenn’s third mission and is expected to force a prolonged pause in launches, disrupting Blue Origin’s plan to fly as many as 12 times this year and complicating its bid to compete with SpaceX and to deliver key payloads for NASA’s Artemis lunar program.

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