Jeff Bezos“Blue Origin just ran into a problem. On Thursday, May 28, the billionaire acknowledged the explosion of the New Glenn rocket, which occurred during its ground test known as a ‘hot fire.’
“We encountered an anomaly during a hot fire test today,” Blue Origin tweeted that night. “All employees have been identified. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Here’s what we know about the missile explosion so far.
Here’s our video of the explosion at Launch Complex 36. It happened around 9 PM ET (0100 UTC) as Blue Origin was beginning a static fire test of its New Glenn rocket.
Watch the live performances: https://t.co/tm2wZQmAVD pic.twitter.com/PmbgQC6Qmq
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) May 29, 2026
How much does Blue Origin cost Jeff Bezos?
Blue Origin is a private company. Therefore, its finances are not publicly disclosed. Bezos reportedly spent about $5.5 billion of his own money to fund the program.
For anyone looking to take Blue Origin’s trip into space, a single seat is said to cost more than $1 million.
All staff are accounted for and safe. It is too early to know the root cause but we are already working on finding it. A very difficult day, but we will rebuild everything that needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 29, 2026
How did Glenn’s new rocket explode?
Bezos acknowledged the error in a tweet shortly after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded from the launch pad.
“All employees are accounted for and safe,” Bezos wrote. “It is too early to know the root cause, but we are already working to find it.”
The Amazon founder noted that it was a “very difficult day” for the Blue Origin team, but insisted that they “will rebuild everything that needs to be rebuilt and get back to flying.”
“It’s worth it,” Bezos insisted.
The FAA issued a statement to CNN about the explosion, noting that it was “aware” of “an anomaly that occurred in the vehicle during a static fire test on the platform at Cape Canaveral, Florida, around 9 p.m. local time on May 28,” and adding that the test “was not within the scope of FAA-authorized activities.”
“There was no impact on air traffic,” the FAA added.
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. ⁰⁰Space flight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extremely difficult. We will work with…
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) May 29, 2026
Will Blue Origin still work with NASA?
Just days before the New Glenn rocket exploded, NASA selected Blue Origin as the first of three unmanned missions to the moon this year.
In the wake of the rocket’s anomaly, NASA chief Jared Isaacman tweeted that the administration was “aware” of the New Glenn rocket error and pledged to “work with our partners to support a comprehensive investigation of this anomaly, evaluate near-term mission impacts, and return to launching rockets.”
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new launch capability for heavy payloads is extremely difficult,” Isaacman continued.
