A rocket from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company dramatically exploded on the launchpad during a test on Friday.
Video posted by NASASpaceflight, a YouTube channel that livestreams launches from Florida, showed the New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad at about 9pm local time (3am BST on Friday) before erupting into a massive fireball that billowed skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air.
Blue Origin said it had experienced an “anomaly”, a term commonly used by rocket companies to describe a launch failure or explosion.
This is my video of the explosion of the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral’s pad LC-36 a short time ago. Includes video & audio from roughly 5 miles away near Jetty Park. That was an absolutely enormous explosion! 🤯Note: Thankfully, Blue says all staff are OK. pic.twitter.com/YePg5OmXd8— JohnCn (@JConcilus) May 29, 2026
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more,” the company said in a post on X.
