None of the Amazon Leo satellites were integrated on the rocket at the time of the incident.
Image: X/@NASASpaceflight
An uncrewed New Glenn rocket of Jeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin exploded during a test on a launchpad in Florida on Thursday.
NASASpaceflight, which livestreams all the launches from Florida, shared a video on X that features the New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad at around 9 p.m. ET. Soon after, it erupted into a massive fireball that billowed skyward. In the now-viral clip, viewers can see towering plume of flames and smoke.
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This is being looked upon as a major blow for Bezos’ space venture that is looking forward to narrow the gap with IPO-bound SpaceX, owned by world’s richest person Elon Musk.
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Blue Origin’s New Glenn “No It’s Necessary” experienced a RUD at the beginning of a static fire test at LC-36 this evening pic.twitter.com/PDpIdh8Iou
— Jerry Pike (@JerryPikePhoto) May 29, 2026
The project holds major significant for Blue Origin, which was preparing the rocket for this fourth launch. It was scheduled to deliver as many as 48 Amazon Leo satellites into the Earth’s lower orbit. This was being done as part of efforts to come up with a broadband constellation to rival the Starlink network.
Notably, none of the Amazon Leo satellites were integrated on the rocket at the time of the incident, an insider familiar with the matter told Reuters.
This comes less than a week after SpaceX was able to carry out a largely successful test of its next-generation Starship rocket.
New Glenn is supposed to be a key factor in delivering lunar landers and cargo under NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration missions. A few days ago, NASA had awarded a $188 million contract to Blue Origin to land rovers on the Moon’s surface.
Addressing the matter, Jeff Bezos wrote on X, “All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 29, 2026
In the comments section of the post, Elon Musk wrote, “Ad astra per aspera” (a popular Latin phrase meaning ‘to the stars through difficulties’)
Ad astra per aspera
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2026
Blue Origin stated that they “experienced an anomaly” during the hotfire test.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman informed that the US space agency will be working with Blue Origin to support the investigation into the incident.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” Isaacman wrote on X.
Isaacman added that NASA would provide information on any impacts to its Artemis and Moon Base programs.
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