Rocket explodes on Florida launch pad during engine-firing test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A Blue Origin rocket exploded during a trial astatine the motorboat pad Thursday night, shaking adjacent homes and concisely coating the entity orange.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test. No 1 was hurt, according to officials astatine Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

“It’s excessively aboriginal to cognize the basal origin but we’re already moving to find it,” Bezos said via X. “Very unsmooth day, but we’ll rebuild immoderate needs rebuilding and get backmost to flying. It’s worthy it.”

Emergency crews remained much than an hr later, but officials said determination was nary menace owed to fumes oregon different imaginable hazards.

The monolithic New Glenn was grounded successful April aft it near a outer successful the incorrect orbit due to the fact that of motor failure. It was lone the 3rd formation of the rocket that Blue Origin intends to usage to motorboat landers to the satellite for NASA.

Homes shook successful adjacent Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach astir 9 p.m., with residents turning to societal media to wonderment what happened. Launch Complex 36 is disposable from the beach, and the net rapidly filled with photos of an orangish fireball.

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said successful a little statement. “We volition supply updates arsenic we larn more.”

The rocket was expected to blast disconnected adjacent week with net satellites that are portion of the Amazon LEO constellation successful orbit.

Towering astatine 321 feet, New Glenn made its debut successful 2025. It is named aft John Glenn, the archetypal American to orbit Earth, and is overmuch bigger and much almighty than the New Shepard rockets that person carried tourists to the fringes of abstraction from Texas.