A New Glenn rocket from Blue Origin exploded during a ground test at Kennedy Space Center, raising concerns about the timeline for NASA's Artemis moon program and planned lunar base construction.
The explosion occurred during a scheduled "hotfire" static test at Launch Complex 36 near Cape Canaveral late Thursday evening, engulfing the launchpad in a massive fireball visible more than 100 miles away. No injuries were reported, and founder Jeff Bezos said all personnel were safe.
NASA recently selected Blue Origin to launch missions supporting construction of a proposed $20 billion moon base, while the company is also competing with SpaceX to provide lunar landers for future Artemis missions. The destroyed rocket was expected to play a key role in delivering moon landers and cargo for upcoming lunar operations.
Jared Isaacman said NASA and its partners would conduct a full investigation into the incident and evaluate any effects on Artemis schedules. Blue Origin described the event as an "anomaly," while Bezos acknowledged it was a "very rough day" and vowed the company would rebuild and resume launches.
The setback adds to mounting pressure on Blue Origin after recent technical problems involving New Glenn payload deployments and temporary grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Artemis III, currently targeted for 2027, is expected to test both Blue Origin's Blue Moon and SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System ahead of future crewed moon landings.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.