Video of rocket explosion during test at Cape Canaveral
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine test at Cape Canaveral with no injuries, likely delaying its planned launch of Amazon's broadband satellites.
Jeff Bezos’s company characterized the incident as an anomaly, as is customary in the space industry for such failed tests. In a post on the X platform, it clarified that all personnel are safe and that they are collecting data to determine exactly what happened.
Bezos himself confirmed that all employees have been accounted for and are well. Very tough day, but we will rebuild what’s needed and get back to flying. It’s worth it, he stated characteristically.
The incident comes just hours after Blue Origin’s announcement that it was preparing the rocket to launch 48 satellites of the Amazon Leo program into low orbit. The goal is to create a broadband services network that will compete with other similar systems. The explosion is expected to cause significant delays to this timeline.
Video
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket just exploded during a static fire test at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will likely set back the previous launch window set in early June, as Blue Origin looks to put its Amazon LEO constellation of broadband… pic.twitter.com/bpDFYUcrgG
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 29, 2026
Response from Musk
Elon Musk commented on the incident in a brief but concise manner on X: Unfortunately. Rockets are a hard thing. So far, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has not issued an official statement.
The New Glenn represents Blue Origin’s big bet. Standing nearly 29 stories tall, with a reusable first stage and a design aimed at competing with SpaceX’s vehicles, the rocket has required billions of dollars and nearly a decade of development. According to American media, the test began around 9:00 PM local time and ended in the explosion.
Blue Origin continues its efforts in the space sector, while the investigation into the causes of the incident is already underway. The episode shows just how demanding the development process for such systems is.
