Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Explodes, Raising NASA Moon Program Concerns

If you've been following the U.S. push to get astronauts back on the moon, this story is a gut punch — and it happened fast.

Late Thursday night, May 28, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded in a massive fireball at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The powerful rocket erupted in a spectacular fireball that lit up the night sky for miles, around 9 p.m. EDT, as engineers were counting down to a brief test firing of the New Glenn's seven methane-fueled first-stage engines. This wasn't even a launch — a hot-fire test is conducted on the ground with the rocket engines ignited, while the vehicle is secured to the launch pad. Something went very wrong before it ever left the ground.

As the engines appeared to begin firing, something clearly went wrong at the base of the rocket. The 188-foot-tall first stage became enveloped in a rapidly growing fire, and moments later the 86-foot-tall upper stage could be seen tilting and starting to fall. The whole thing was over in seconds. As always with such tests, the area had been evacuated and no injuries were reported. Small mercy.

But the damage goes way beyond one rocket. Blue Origin must now reckon with the loss of one of its few New Glenn rockets, the destruction of its only operational launch pad for those rockets, and what could be months or years of investigation and delays before the booster can return to flight. That last part is critical — the damaged launch pad is currently Blue Origin's only one for its New Glenn rocket. So even if the issue with the rocket can be quickly assessed and fixed, the company still might not have a pad from which to launch.

So why does this matter to you, even if you've never thought twice about rockets? Because this explosion just put a serious dent in America's plan to beat China back to the moon. NASA is counting on Blue Origin and SpaceX to launch Artemis moon landers next year to rendezvous and possibly dock with an Orion capsule launched atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket. NASA plans to follow that flight with one and possibly two moon landing missions in 2028. Blue Origin's rocket — the New Glenn — is the vehicle supposed to make the Blue Moon lunar lander happen. Without it, that timeline looks shaky at best.

This isn't Blue Origin's first stumble either. The massive New Glenn was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit because of an engine failure — and it was only the third flight of the rocket. Thursday's disaster happened while the company was trying to prepare for its fourth flight, a launch planned for early June to deploy 48 Amazon-owned internet satellites. Fortunately, the satellites were not on board the rocket for the engine firing and were not damaged.

Jeff Bezos responded on X with characteristic defiance. "All personnel are accounted for and safe," he said. "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." NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was measured but clearly paying attention — he promised to "provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available."

There's also a ripple effect beyond NASA. The engines generate a combined 4.5 million pounds of thrust at full power, and if one or more BE-4 engines was to blame, the mishap almost certainly will affect United Launch Alliance, which uses the Blue Origin engines in the first stage of its new Vulcan rocket. One explosion, potentially two rocket programs affected.

Experts aren't sugarcoating it. One analyst said it's likely that Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket could be grounded for "anywhere from six months to two years" while a full investigation plays out. NASA plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028 via Artemis IV and considers itself to be in a race with China, which is seeking to send astronauts to the moon by 2030. A two-year delay would put that competition on very thin ice.