Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Damages Only Launchpad, Delays Artemis

A New Glenn rocket built by Blue Origin exploded during a ground test on May 28 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36, destroying the vehicle and damaging the sole launchpad available for the heavy-lift booster. The blast occurred at roughly 9 p.m. while seven BE-4 engines underwent a hot-fire test with the 322-foot rocket secured to the pad. No personnel were injured.

Jeff Bezos posted on X that all staff were safe and that the company had begun a root-cause investigation. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” he wrote. Brevard County Emergency Management stated the event posed no threat to the public. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency was aware of the incident and would assess impacts on Artemis and Moon Base programs as more information emerged.

The destroyed pad is Blue Origin’s only New Glenn facility. Ars Technica reported that the transporter-erector and at least one lightning tower may be unsalvageable, making a 2026 flight unlikely and a first-half 2027 launch ambitious. Blue Origin had received FAA clearance the previous week after an earlier second-stage anomaly. The vehicle had been preparing to carry 48 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites.

Two days before the test, NASA awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract and selected the company to deliver a robotic lunar lander as soon as fall 2026. New Glenn was also slated to support Artemis III hardware in 2027. The loss forces NASA and Amazon to consider alternative providers, including United Launch Alliance and Arianespace, while SpaceX continues its launch cadence. Elon Musk posted on X: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”