Blue Origin traced the May 28 New Glenn launchpad failure to a defective main oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine, a conclusion the company says was confirmed by recovered hardware and detailed inspections. CEO Dave Limp said extensive component and engine hotfire tests informed a fix: small, retrofittable valve modifications currently in production and expected by month’s end. Blue Origin will complete a fault-tree analysis while retrofitting existing engines; all personnel were reported safe and government investigators are reviewing the incident.
Blue Origin Blames Faulty BE-4 Oxygen Valve for New Glenn Explosion — Retrofits Planned
The Blue Origin New Glenn launch pad, seen in flames from Cocoa Beach shortly after 9 p.m. May 28, was the site of a rocket anomaly at Cape Canaveral Space Force StationCredit: Malcolm Denemark / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn
Blue Origin has identified a faulty main oxygen valve on one of its BE-4 engines as the root cause of the New Glenn rocket failure during a May 28 hotfire test at Cape Canaveral, CEO Dave Limp announced in a company update. The company says recovered hardware and detailed inspections confirmed the finding, and engineers have run extensive component-level and full-engine hotfire tests to diagnose the problem and validate fixes.
Investigation and findings:
According to the update, the anomaly originated at the main oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine. Blue Origin recovered hardware from the site and conducted thorough inspections that supported the initial diagnosis. The firm followed those inspections with component-level examinations and additional hotfire tests to reproduce and understand the failure mode.
"The path forward is clear," Limp wrote. "We're making small modifications to the valve that can be quickly retrofitted to existing engines. We're manufacturing the updated hardware, which will be ready by the end of this month. In parallel, we're working through the remaining fault-tree analysis."
What happened on May 28:
During a ground hotfire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, technicians fired the New Glenn booster’s seven BE-4 engines while the rocket remained secured to the pad. The vehicle became engulfed in flames and subsequently exploded, destroying the rocket and damaging pad infrastructure and nearby equipment. Blue Origin confirmed that all personnel on site were safe.
External response and next steps:
Federal and space agency officials have been informed, and government investigators are reviewing the incident. Blue Origin says it is manufacturing revised valve components now and expects the updated hardware to be ready by the end of the month. The company will retrofit the modifications to existing BE-4 engines and continue a structured fault-tree analysis to close out any remaining failure paths.
Founder Jeff Bezos reacted to the incident on social media at the time, noting the team would "rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying." Blue Origin says it will keep testing parts and engines methodically before returning to flight operations.
PEOPLE has contacted Blue Origin for additional comment.
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