A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin exploded in a massive fireball on Thursday night during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, marking a significant setback for the company as it works to establish itself as a serious competitor in the commercial space industry. The blast shook homes in nearby Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach and briefly lit up the night sky orange, with residents flooding social media with photos and videos of the plume. Officials confirmed no injuries were reported and that there was no ongoing threat from fumes or other hazards.

The incident occurred during what is known as a hot-fire test — a procedure in which a rocket's engines are ignited while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground — conducted ahead of a planned satellite launch scheduled for next week. Blue Origin described the event as an "anomaly" but offered no immediate technical explanation. Bezos acknowledged on X that it was "too early to know the root cause" but vowed to rebuild and return to flight. "Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it," he wrote.

The New Glenn rocket — named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth — stands 98 metres tall and made its debut flight in January 2025. Thursday's test had been intended to prepare the vehicle to carry 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of Amazon's effort to build a broadband constellation that would compete with Elon Musk's Starlink network. The rocket had already suffered a setback in April when engine failure left a communications satellite in the wrong orbit, grounding the vehicle for investigation. That mission had been only the third flight in the rocket's short operational history.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency would support an investigation into the incident and pledged to provide information on any impacts to NASA programmes. Blue Origin plays a central role in NASA's Artemis lunar exploration effort: the company is contracted to develop landers that would carry astronauts to the Moon's surface, and earlier this week NASA awarded Blue Origin a further contract worth $188 million to launch a pair of lunar rovers. The company had also been on track to launch a prototype moon lander on a test flight this autumn.

Musk, whose own SpaceX programme has experienced high-profile rocket explosions over the years, offered measured sympathy. "Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly," he wrote in one post, though he also noted that "rockets are hard." Space Force officials sought to reassure other operators, stating that the explosion at Launch Complex 36 would not affect launches from other pads at the Cape — United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket remained on schedule for a Friday night launch carrying a separate batch of Amazon Leo satellites.