A NASA administrator has issued a statement after a massive explosion was reported at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The incident took place shortly after 9pm local time on Thursday, May 28, as Blue Origin was preparing to fuel its New Glenn rocket ahead of a planned static fire test when the explosion occurred, CBS News reports.
Following its third successful launch last month, the aerospace company was prepping the rocket for a mission set for June 4, which will be the fourth for the New Glenn program. In footage circulating online, a detonation can be seen emanating from the base of the rocket, before smoke carries up the shaft of the rocket before an explosion towards the pointy tip of the spaceship. Then, the entire vessel is engulfed in a huge, bright yellow plume of flame.
NASA Administrator's Statement
Jared Isaacman shared the following post on X in the early hours of this morning: "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 near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets. We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available."
Reactions from Industry Leaders
It comes after Billionaire SpaceX owner Elon Musk has delivered a crushing verdict on Jeff Bezos' most recent space disaster. Musk simply said: "Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard." While Jeff Bezos took to X to say: "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 extent of the damage to the Blue Origin launchpad and relevant ground support equipment remains unknown. It is also unknown what delays the project will incur as a result of the explosion. The rocket was supposed to blast off next week with internet satellites that are part of the Amazon LEO constellation in orbit.
Towering at 321 feet (98 meters), New Glenn made its debut in 2025. It is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, and is much bigger and more powerful than the New Shepard rockets that have carried tourists to the fringes of space from Texas.
