Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin just experienced a problem. On Thursday, May 28, the billionaire acknowledged its New Glenn rocket explosion, which occurred during its ground test known as a “hotfire.”
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin tweeted that night. “All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Here’s what we know about the rocket’s explosion so far.
Here’s our video of the explosion at Launch Complex 36. It happened about 9 pm ET (0100 UTC) as Blue Origin was beginning a static fire test of its New Glenn rocket.
Watch live views: https://t.co/tm2wZQmAVD pic.twitter.com/PmbgQC6Qmq
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) May 29, 2026
How Much Does the Blue Origin Company Cost Jeff Bezos?
Blue Origin is a private company. Therefore, its finances aren’t publicly disclosed. Bezos reportedly spent around $5.5 billion of his own money to fund the program.
For anyone looking to take a Blue Origin flight to space, a single seat reportedly costs more than $1 million.
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.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 29, 2026
How Did the New Glenn Rocket Explode?
Bezos acknowledged the error in a tweet shortly after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded from its launchpad.
“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” Bezos wrote. “It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already working to find it.”
The Amazon founder pointed out that it was a “very rough day” for the Blue Origin team but insisted they will “rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying.”
“It’s worth it,” Bezos insisted.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement to CNN about the explosion, noting it was “aware” of the vehicle’s “anomaly during a static fire test on the pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, around 9 p.m. local time on May 28,” and added that the test was “not within the scope of FAA licensed activities.”
“There was no impact to 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. ⁰⁰Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily 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’s explosion, NASA selected Blue Origin as the first of three uncrewed lunar missions this year.
Following the rocket’s anomaly, NASA’s chief, Jared Isaacman, tweeted that the administration was “aware” of the New Glenn rocket’s error and vowed to “work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
“Spaceflight is unforgiving,” Isaacman continued, “and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult.”
