Watch: The moment Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket bursts into flames on the launchpad in Cape Canaveral
Dramatic footage shows a rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space technology company bursting into a ball of flames during a test launch.
No one was hurt in the explosion, according to officials at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and officials insisted there was no threat from fumes or other potential hazards.
Homes nearby shook at around 9pm local time on Thursday, with photos and footage of the sky being lit up by an orange fireball quickly flooding social media.
Blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test. The rocket was supposed to blast off next week with internet satellites that are part of the Amazon Leo constellation in orbit.
“It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos said via X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
The massive New Glenn was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit due to engine failure.
It was only the third flight of the rocket that Blue Origin intends to use to launch landers to the moon for Nasa including the landers that will take astronauts to the lunar surface.
The company had been on track to launch a prototype lunar lander to the moon on a flight test this autumn.
Earlier this week, the space agency awarded Blue Origin a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a pair of moon buggies in the next few years as part of the Artemis programme.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said via X.
He promised to provide information on any impacts to the Artemis programme, including the moon base that he recently outlined.
United States Space Force officials said the explosion would not affect upcoming launches by other companies from other pads.
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is due to blast off Friday night with a batch of Amazon Leo satellites, the same kind that this rocket was supposed to take up.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who’s had his own share of rocket explosions, offered his condolences, writing on X: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”
Towering at 321 feet, New Glenn made its debut in 2025.
It is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, and is larger and more powerful than Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets that have carried tourists to the fringes of space from Texas.
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