Blue Origin - New Glenn Explosion

[brovane]

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket just detonated on the pad during a static fire for a planned upcoming mission to deliver Amazon LEO sats to orbit.

Looks like some major damage to the pad, one of the lightning towers is just gone.

This will have major impact on the Artemis program with New Glenn's only pad completely out of action for probably at least a year.
Sometimes we forget how rockets are basically a controlled explosion.

https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/20 ... 8472854821

[Johnnie Lyle]

Sometimes we forget how rockets are basically a controlled explosion.

Because, to their enormous credit, our rocketeers made it look easy, safe and routine.

To quote Elon, “rockets are hard,” but we get them right the vast majority of the time.

[kdahm]

Is this more worth of:

"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody rockets today!"

or

"You've lost another one, Jeff?"

[Micael]

Very problematic for the moon plans in the short term. I’m seeing some reports that the horizontal integration facility is on fire as well, so the overall damage seems to be quite severe.

[Micael]

Aftermath.

[jemhouston]

Think it will take more than duct tape to fix it.

[Rocket J Squrriel]

Think it will take more than duct tape to fix it.

Probably duct tape and some bondo.

Interesting thing is that this same pad suffered what was until now the biggest on pad explosion in KSC history. 1965 a Atlas-Centaur rose a few feet and then came crashing down with a huge explosions of LOX, kerosine, and LH2. NASA used it as a baseline of what a Saturn V explosion would be.
https://youtu.be/w98Ij6eFpE4?si=XEXawBcXfJEKktHe

If, and a big IF, the fault is in the BE-4 engines then ULA has a problem since their Vulcan rocket uses them as well.

[Demon Lord Razgriz]

Looking at that image, not only did they lose one lightning tower, they might have to take down the surviving one. It looks like there's a few girders blown off mid-way up.

[brovane]

Sometimes we forget how rockets are basically a controlled explosion.

Because, to their enormous credit, our rocketeers made it look easy, safe and routine.

To quote Elon, “rockets are hard,” but we get them right the vast majority of the time.

Makes me appreciate more the launch cadence that SpaceX is able to sustain with the F9. A Starlink F9 launch was performed this morning from SLC-40 at CCSFS, hours after the SLC-36 explosion at CCSFS. You have a million things that have to go right and one can go wrong and you can have a very bad day with a rocket.

Some very serious damage to Blue Origin's one and only pad for New Glenn. There is some sources also saying the HIF also took a hit and New Glenn's recovered booster could be damaged.

That lightning tower is probably structurally weak with the damage it took to one of it's supports. Will require careful management to probably bring it down. At this point, in my opinion it would have been better if both lightning towers had collapsed.

HJf_nESXEAcOWuB.jpg

[Nightwatch2]

Very problematic for the moon plans in the short term. I’m seeing some reports that the horizontal integration facility is on fire as well, so the overall damage seems to be quite severe.

That’s a different launch site so why should this “most impressive” Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly affect Artimus?

Artimus One Hundred Eleven should launch from 39B, right?

[Micael]

Very problematic for the moon plans in the short term. I’m seeing some reports that the horizontal integration facility is on fire as well, so the overall damage seems to be quite severe.

That’s a different launch site so why should this “most impressive” Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly affect Artimus?

Artimus One Hundred Eleven should launch from 39B, right?

Yes, but Blue Origin plays a key role in the NASA plans just unveiled a few days ago. This article explains the essentials of the issues now faced pretty well:

Moon base plans suffer early setback after Blue Origin rocket explosion
30/05/2026 - 10:22 AM
Moon Base Plans Suffer Early Setback After Blue Origin Rocket Explosion
By Nick Lester, Press Association US Editor in Washington DC
Nasa’s ambitious plans to build its first Moon base have suffered an early setback after a rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded in a gigantic fireball on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The space company founded by the billionaire Amazon businessman has a key role to play from the outset in establishing an outpost on the lunar surface.

But its main delivery system was the New Glenn rocket, which detonated during an engine-firing test on Thursday night, ahead of a satellite launch planned for next week.

The launch pad and its gantry also apparently suffered severe damage in the massive explosion that sent smoke and flaming debris high into the air.

When Elon Musk’s Space X Falcon 9 rocket blew up on the pad back in 2016, the launch facility was out of action for more than a year, but alternative sites could be used.

However, Blue Origin only had one pad for the New Glenn rocket, which has now been badly damaged.

The devastating blast comes just days after Nasa boss Jared Isaacman unveiled far-reaching plans to build a Moon base that could see people living and working on Earth’s natural satellite within six years.

The pioneering project, which aims to develop the technologies needed for future deep space missions, including to Mars, will be rolled out in three stages.

The first phase was to have seen Blue Origin launch its robotic Moon lander to deliver scientific experiments to the Moon’s surface to undertake tests, aimed at reducing the risk for future crewed landings in 2028.

It was also announced Blue Origin had been awarded a contract worth up to 468 million dollars (£347 million) to transport lunar rovers to the south pole in preparation for the arrival of astronauts.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral, Florida
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral, Florida (@JConcilus via AP)
However, these missions would rely on the heavy-lift New Glenn, named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.

Blue Origin had been preparing the powerful rocket for its fourth launch planned for next week, to put satellites into low-Earth orbit.

Following the blast, Bezos wrote on X: “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.”

Mr Isaacman said: “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult.”

He has promised to provide information on any impact to future Nasa missions as a result of the blast.

SpaceX could stand to gain from Blue Origin’s misfortune, although the firm has also faced setbacks with its rockets.

Responding to his rival’s explosion, Mr Musk said: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”