Saturday, May 30, 2026
Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on pad during hotfire test
A New Glenn rocket erupted in a fireball at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36 around 9 p.m. EDT on May 28 during a static fire test, with no injuries reported but apparent damage to the pad's lightning towers and transporter erector. The vehicle was being prepared to launch 49 Amazon Leo broadband satellites as soon as June 4, and because LC-36 is Blue Origin's only New Glenn pad, the loss jeopardizes both Amazon's constellation timeline and AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird launches - AST stock fell roughly 17% on the news.
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