Blue Origin rocket explosion: What we know about the blast at Cape Canaveral

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded Thursday at Cape Canaveral, filling the night sky with fire along Florida's Space Coast.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force confirmed the rocket exploded at 9 p.m. at Space Launch Complex 36 during a hotfire test, which Blue Origin itself described earlier on social media.

Blue Origin statement

"We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test," Blue Origin's post states. "All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more."

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said on social media that work is underway to determine the root cause of the explosion.

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

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office said in a statement it had received info "that there was a failure of the test firing and an explosion," adding preliminary reports show no injuries.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was recently transported to Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned Leo New Glenn 1 launch.

Officials react

Congressman Mike Haridopolos, R-Brevard County, said on social media that he had spoken with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and is grateful no injuries were reported.

I’ve already spoken with @NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman regarding the explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket tonight at Kennedy Space Center. I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly.… https://t.co/m0IAerHZan
— Congressman Mike Haridopolos (@RepHaridopolos) May 29, 2026

Rep. Haridopolos is the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. He phoned in to Gulf Coast News sister station, WESH 2 News in Orlando, to discuss the explosion.

>>Video below: Congressman Mike Haridopolos discusses Blue Origin explosion

We also heard from Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors, who called during our live coverage of the explosion to speak.

>>Video below: Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors discusses Blue Origin explosion

Expert weighs in

Space expert Ken Kremer joined WESH 2 News earlier in the night to discuss the explosion as well.

"They were loading propellant into the rocket and they started a static fire test, which is not a launch; the rocket is sitting on the pad and they want to ignite the engines for several seconds to test them all out and make sure everything will work when they do the launch in the next few weeks. That was the plan." he said.

>>Video below: Space expert Ken Kremer talks Blue Origin explosion

Both SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are scheduled to launch Falcon 9 and Atlas V rockets, respectively, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday.

>>Video below: Viewer footage of New Glenn explosion

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