Blue Origin rocket explosion threatens Nasa's Moon landing plans

A rocket explosion at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida has raised serious questions about Blue Origin's ability to meet its commitments to Nasa for lunar missions. The New Glenn rocket, measuring 98 meters (322 feet) tall, exploded around 21:00 local time during a routine engine test. No one was injured in the blast, according to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who wrote on X: "All personnel are accounted for and safe."

The damaged launch pad, Space Launch Complex 36, is the only facility in the world built specifically to launch the New Glenn rocket. Footage from the explosion shows one of the pad's lightning protection towers toppled by the blast. Analysts expect rebuilding and re-certifying the launch pad will take months, leaving Blue Origin unable to fly its largest rocket during that period.

Nasa recently announced three missions to build a lunar base at the Moon's south pole, starting with Moon Base 1. This mission was scheduled to launch no earlier than autumn 2026 aboard Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, which would be carried to the Moon on top of a New Glenn rocket. The explosion has now cast doubt on whether that timeline is achievable.

Nasa also awarded Blue Origin a contract worth up to $468 million to deliver two commercial lunar terrain vehicles to the Moon's south pole by 2028. These rovers, built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, are meant to be in place before crewed astronauts arrive. Nasa has set a target date of 2028 for a crewed Moon landing, though this date faced questions even before the explosion.

The rocket was originally scheduled to launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband network as early as 4 June. Amazon is required by the Federal Communications Commission to have half of its 3,236-satellite constellation in orbit by 30 July 2026. As of late May, the company was already more than 1,300 satellites short of that target, with delays partly blamed on "launch vehicle availability" from Blue Origin and other providers. With the New Glenn grounded for months, Amazon will depend even more heavily on rivals like SpaceX to meet its obligations and will almost certainly need a deadline extension from the FCC.

Nasa's next crewed Moon mission, Artemis III, is scheduled for next year as a low Earth orbit flight test of two commercial lunar landers built by Blue Origin and SpaceX. Until the explosion, Blue Origin was viewed as the more advanced of the two. Its Mark 1 demonstrator was already in final assembly in Florida, while SpaceX's Starship has yet to complete a successful in-space propellant transfer.

Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman responded to the setback on X, stating: "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult." Meanwhile, China is advancing its own plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. The explosion has created multiple obstacles for Nasa's Moon programme, which will inevitably lead to delays across several projects that depend on the New Glenn rocket.