The Independent68%
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket explodes in giant fireball on launchpad during ‘hotfire test’ 12%
By Maroosha Muzaffar54%
5/29/2026, 2:30:30 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Negativity Bias, and Biased Writer Voice, with Availability Heuristic as the most egregious example at 16% saturation with 97 hits. Analysis detected 834 faulty-reasoning hits from 606 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28.6% and a BS Rank of 12% (19,364 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 88.50% of the article peer group.
A rocket developed by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded on a launch pad in Florida on Thursday night during a pre-launch engine test.
The explosion was so powerful that it could be seen from miles away, lighting up the night sky around Cape Canaveral.
Videos shared on social media showed a huge orange fireball erupting from the rocket and engulfing the entire launchpad.
The blast happened around 9pm as crews carried out a “hotfire test”, in which the rocket’s seven booster engines were ignited while the vehicle remained secured to the pad.
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin’s social media team wrote on X.
“All personnel have been accounted for.”
Emergency officials said there is no threat due to fumes or other potential hazards.
“It’s too early to know the root cause, but we’re already working to find it,” Mr Bezos wrote on social media.
“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying.
It’s worth it.”
The explosion caused severe damage to the launchpad and nearby infrastructure at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The site is Blue Origin’s sole launch facility for its 322ft New Glenn rocket, named after pioneering astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.
Restoring the damaged launch pad is expected to take at least several months.
The massive New Glenn rocket was grounded in April after it left a satellite in the wrong orbit because of engine failure.
It was only the third flight of the rocket that Blue Origin intends to use to launch landers to the moon for Nasa.
Homes shook in nearby Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, with residents turning to social media to wonder what happened.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 is visible from the beach, and the internet quickly filled with photos of an orange fireball.
New Glenn made its debut in 2025 from Cape Canaveral.
Mr Bezos’ space competitor Elon Musk wrote on X: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”
Nasa has said that it will support a “thorough investigation” into the incident.
Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X: “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.
Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult.
“We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.
We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programmes as it becomes available.”
Thursday night’s explosion could represent a setback for Nasa’s moon ambitions.
Blue Origin and SpaceX are the two companies Nasa has selected to help transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon’s surface.
Blue Origin’s plans depend on several launches of its New Glenn rocket to send parts of its lunar lander into space.
Nasa’s Artemis III mission, planned for next year, is meant to test docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and the lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin while astronauts remain in Earth’s orbit.
But with Blue Origin’s only New Glenn launchpad badly damaged, the company may struggle to take part in the mission on schedule.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it was aware of the explosion and was monitoring the situation.
The agency said in a statement that the “test was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities” and that the incident did not disrupt air traffic.
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