CAPE CANAVERAL — A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket experienced an anomaly during a static fire test on the ground at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 28, 2026. A video captured on the night of May 28, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station appears to show the rocket exploding on its launch pad.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos posted on X that all personnel were safe. “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.”

The test occurred around 9 p.m. local time and was not within the scope of FAA-authorized activities, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA confirmed the anomaly had no impact on air traffic and referred further questions to Blue Origin.

The U.S. Space Force said range officials are coordinating with Blue Origin and its partners to determine the exact cause of the anomaly.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged the incident in a post on X. “NASA is aware of the anomaly that occurred tonight at Launch Complex 36 involving Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess immediate mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.” Isaacman added that NASA would provide updates on any effects on Artemis and Moon Base programs as information becomes available.

This incident follows an earlier failure during New Glenn’s third flight on April 19, 2026, which prompted an FAA investigation. During that mission, the first-stage booster landed successfully on a barge at sea, but the second stage failed to place the BlueBird 7 satellite for AST SpaceMobile into a stable orbit. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp acknowledged the mission fell short of customer expectations in a post on X: “While we are pleased with the nominal recovery of the booster, it is clear we did not fulfill the mission our customer wanted and our team expected. Initial data suggests that during our second GS2 maneuver, one of the BE-3U engines did not produce sufficient thrust to reach our target orbit.”

The next New Glenn mission had been scheduled to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s broadband constellation. Blue Origin’s first orbital launch occurred on January 16, 2025, and although the mission was deemed successful, the company failed to recover the first stage due to engine reignition issues. The second flight in November 2025 achieved a successful booster landing and delivered NASA’s ESCAPADE payload toward Mars.