When a Rocket Explodes on the Pad

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was destroyed during a test in May 2026. Here's what actually happened — and what it means for NASA's moon plans.

What happened?

On the evening of May 28, 2026, engineers at Cape Canaveral in Florida were running a "static fire" test on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. A static fire is exactly what it sounds like: the engines ignite while the rocket stays bolted to the pad. It's a final checkup before a real launch. This particular test was preparing New Glenn for its fourth flight, which was going to carry a batch of Amazon internet satellites to orbit.

Seconds after the seven engines ignited, something went catastrophically wrong. A huge fireball erupted and engulfed Launch Complex 36 (LC-36), completely destroying the 98-meter-tall (320-foot) rocket and heavily damaging the launch pad. The explosion could be seen from miles away. Blue Origin confirmed that all personnel were safe — nobody was injured.

Why uncrewed matters: Because this was a ground test with no crew on board, the disaster, while enormous, did not cost any lives. That's one reason engineers run tests before putting people on rockets.

How does this compare to other pad explosions?

One of the most famous rocket disasters in recent memory happened in October 2014, when an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket lifted off from Virginia, lost engine power just seconds after clearing the launch tower, and fell back onto its own pad. It hadn't gained much altitude or speed — the flight termination system was triggered almost immediately, and the rocket tipped over and dropped straight back down. When it hit and the propellants ignited, it left a physical crater in the ground and wrecked the pad. Nobody was hurt, but it took nearly two years to rebuild.

The New Glenn explosion looked similar on video — giant fireball, mushroom cloud — but left no crater. Why the difference? The honest answer is that investigators haven't officially explained it yet, but there are two reasonable factors. First, New Glenn never moved at all — it was bolted to the pad and exploded exactly where it stood, so there was no falling vehicle to transfer weight and force into the ground. Second, the type of fuel may have played a role: Antares burned RP-1, a kerosene-based fuel that is a dense liquid and can pool on the ground when a rocket breaks apart, concentrating the explosive force downward. New Glenn burns liquid methane, which is a gas at room temperature and tends to expand and disperse into the air when released rather than pooling beneath the vehicle.

Neither factor alone is a complete explanation, and it may be some combination of both — plus details only the wreckage can tell us. That kind of uncertainty is normal at this stage. Understanding exactly what happened, and why, is precisely what the investigation is for.

What does this mean for NASA's moon program?

New Glenn isn't just Blue Origin's workhorse rocket — it's central to NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts back on the moon. Blue Origin has been contracted to launch the Blue Moon lunar lander, which would carry astronauts to and from the lunar surface in future Artemis missions.

The initial aerial views of LC-36 looked devastating: a collapsed lightning tower, a completely destroyed rocket-carrying structure, and a blackened launch pad. But a closer assessment brought some genuine good news. Both the U.S. Space Force and Blue Origin confirmed that the pad's fuel farm — the massive storage tanks for liquid methane and liquid oxygen that are the most expensive and hardest-to-replace parts of the whole facility — survived the explosion intact.

That matters a lot. Rebuilding those tanks from scratch could take years. Because they're still standing, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp announced that the company believes it can return to flight before the end of 2026 — an ambitious goal, but now at least a realistic one.

So is this the end for New Glenn?

Not even close. Failures like this are a normal — if brutal — part of spaceflight history, not exceptions to it. Every major space agency and every private rocket company has had explosions, crashes, and mission losses. SpaceX's early Falcon 9 failures directly shaped the safety systems that make it one of the most reliable rockets flying today. The Antares pad was rebuilt and flew again.

What separates successful programs from failed ones isn't avoiding disasters entirely — it's what engineers do after. They study the wreckage, find the root cause, fix it, and launch again. That process, as unglamorous as it sounds, is how rockets get better. If you're thinking about a career in aerospace, incidents like this aren't a warning sign. They're the job.