By BlueShift and AFP | 2026-06-04

Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp has vowed the company's New Glenn rocket "will fly again before the end of this year" after a recent ground test ended in a massive fireball that damaged the Cape Canaveral, Florida, launch platform.

That pledge, delivered in a June 1 announcement that concluded with the company's motto, "Gradatim Ferociter" ("step by step, ferociously"), follows an explosion during a May 28 hotfire (static fire) test.

Hotfire tests are carried out on the ground, with engines fired at full thrust, to test all the rocket's systems ahead of an actual launch.

While anomalies during ground tests are relatively frequent, such explosions are rare, and the blast caused significant damage to the spacecraft and the launchpad.

Limp said debris from the explosion "may wash ashore in the coming days/weeks." He urged people to refrain from touching or approaching it and to report its location to Blue Origin.

The company has "regained some access to Launch Complex 36" and is actively investigating the hotfire anomaly, he said May 30, adding that "we will start clearing the pad soon and have a good rebuild plan in place."

An investigation into the incident, conducted alongside NASA and the US Space Force, is ongoing, and New Glenn will remain grounded while it is conducted.

In a post on X, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said that 2028, when New Glenn is slated to carry out lunar rover deliveries, "should be well within what is possible for pad recovery."

'It's worth it'

NASA has been counting on Blue Origin to collaborate on upcoming moon missions.

The New Glenn rocket, which stands 98 meters (321 feet) tall and is the most powerful in Blue Origin's fleet, is meant to participate in NASA's Artemis lunar program, delivering both landers and cargo.

The US space agency is aiming to test an in-orbit rendezvous between spacecraft and one or two lunar landers in 2027, and carry out a crewed lunar landing before the end of 2028.

But a lot needs to happen before then -- and industry experts have noted that the New Glenn rocket's setback could disrupt NASA's tight mission schedule.

"Spaceflight is unforgiving," Isaacman said in a post on X soon after the explosion, promising to "support a thorough investigation of this anomaly."

"It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it," Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wrote on X following the explosion.

"Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it."