2026年5月29日 / 美国东部时间下午3:38 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
周五，蓝色起源公司的无人“新格伦”火箭在发射台上发生灾难性爆炸，加上该公司唯一发射台显然遭受严重损坏，在美国航天界引发震动。该公司目前可能面临长达数月乃至更久的飞行延误，这可能严重推迟NASA的登月计划。
由亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝佐斯拥有的蓝色起源公司尚未公布发射台监控录像和遥测数据可能揭示的周四晚间爆炸原因。与这类测试一贯做法相同，事发区域已被疏散，暂无人员伤亡报告。
“目前尚不清楚根本原因，但我们已着手调查，”贝佐斯在X平台上发文称，“今天非常艰难，但我们将重建所有需要重建的设施，重返飞行轨道。这一切都是值得的。”
这场巨大的爆炸在佛罗里达州大片区域都能看到，翻滚的火焰云升腾升空，碎片向四面八方飞溅，震感波及附近住宅，震碎了窗户玻璃。
周五早些时候，美国太空军第45发射大队向公众发出警告：“此次异常事件产生的碎片可能在未来数日至数周内被冲上公共海滩区域。请务必向911报告发现的碎片，以便进行妥善清理和处理。这些碎片可能具有危险性，直接接触可能危害健康。”
此次热试是为6月初的发射任务做准备，该任务将部署48颗亚马逊旗下的互联网卫星。这些卫星并未搭载在此次进行发动机测试的火箭上，因此未在此次事故中受损。
虽然爆炸原因尚未立即查明，但似乎起源于火箭第一级底部或附近区域，当时为此次预定测试，其7台甲烷驱动的BE-4发动机正在点火。
这些发动机在满功率状态下可产生总计450万磅的推力。如果一台或多台BE-4发动机是事故诱因，此次事故几乎肯定会影响联合发射联盟——该公司在其新型火神火箭的第一级上使用了蓝色起源的这款发动机。
爆炸可能由燃油管线破裂、地面系统故障或其他与发动机无关的故障引发。
登月计划遭遇延误
无论原因是什么，此次爆炸都对NASA的阿尔忒弥斯登月计划造成了潜在的严重打击。
NASA指望蓝色起源和太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）于明年发射阿尔忒弥斯登月舱，与搭载在NASA太空发射系统火箭上的猎户座飞船交会并可能对接。NASA计划于6月9日公布执行阿尔忒弥斯三号任务的四名宇航员名单。
Blue Origin/NASA
该计划的思路是先在地球轨道测试交会与对接程序，随后在2028年开展一次乃至两次宇航员登月任务。此外，NASA预计蓝色起源将在不久后发射两艘无人月球货运飞船，将原型月球车运送至月球表面。首次测试飞行原定于今年晚些时候进行。
蓝色起源的登月舱设计为通过新格伦火箭发射，如今看来，数月内都不太可能开展此类发射，甚至可能要到2027年底之后。
NASA/Blue Origin
根据公司恢复飞行所需的时间长短，阿尔忒弥斯三号任务可能被推迟至2028年，甚至可能将计划中的登月飞行任务拖至2029年，或者NASA可能被迫仅依靠SpaceX的登月舱于明年执行阿尔忒弥斯三号任务。
但这一前提是SpaceX能够及时做好准备。该公司的星舰火箭近期因试飞中的发动机故障而停飞，目前尚不清楚星舰登月舱何时能够恢复飞行。
SpaceX/NASA
对于蓝色起源而言，初期的损伤评估（尤其是远距离评估）往往过于悲观。考虑到贝佐斯的资源储备，蓝色起源恢复飞行的速度可能快于预期，这取决于详细的损伤评估结果。
NASA将密切关注事态发展。
“NASA已知悉周四晚间发生在卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地36号发射复合体、涉及蓝色起源新格伦火箭的异常事件，”NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼周四晚间在X平台上表示。
“航天事业不容许失误，开发新型重型运载能力的难度极高，”他继续说道，“我们将与合作伙伴一道，支持对此次异常事件开展彻底调查，评估其对近期任务的影响，尽快恢复火箭发射。”
似曾相识的一幕
2016年9月也曾发生过类似事故，当时SpaceX的猎鹰9号火箭在紧邻此次爆炸地点的40号发射台爆炸，摧毁了火箭和一颗以色列卫星，并严重损坏了发射台。
此次故障发生在热试前的最后几分钟，当时猎鹰9号与此次的新格伦一样，满载爆炸性推进剂。SpaceX的此次事故被归咎为上级级段液氧箱内的高压氦气罐破裂。
SpaceX在三个半月后恢复了飞行，但该公司花费了近15个月才让40号发射台恢复运营。在此期间，该公司可以使用另外两个发射台——一个位于肯尼迪航天中心，另一个位于加利福尼亚州的范登堡太空军基地——来维持飞行任务。
蓝色起源没有这样的备选方案。尽管该公司计划在卡纳维拉尔角建造第二个发射台，并在范登堡建造第三个，但这些项目尚未动工。
“向蓝色起源的全体团队致以慰问，”SpaceX发射运营副总裁基科·东切夫在X平台上发文称，“我们也曾经历过这样的时刻，几乎没有什么比在发射台上损失一枚火箭更糟糕的事情了。”
“请记住，@蓝色起源，黎明前总是最黑暗的，衡量你们的不是这次异常事件，而是你们的应对方式，”他说道，“我们都在为你们尽快安全恢复飞行而加油！”
与此同时，SpaceX于周五早间从40号发射台发射了一枚猎鹰9号火箭，搭载了又一批星链互联网卫星。联合发射联盟在确认新格伦爆炸产生的碎片未影响其附近41号发射台的系统后，计划于周五晚间发射一批亚马逊Leo互联网卫星。
周五清晨的直升机航拍画面显示，蓝色起源独立的避雷塔已被摧毁，用于将火箭从总装厂房运至发射台并将其竖立至发射状态的新格伦运输-竖起一体机也一同被毁。周五上午，这两处设施都只剩下烧焦扭曲的残骸堆。
Asher Brinkman
其他爆炸损坏痕迹也清晰可见，但目前尚不清楚发射台的燃料箱、输送管线、降噪喷水系统或新格伦总装厂房是否遭受了严重损坏。
由于此次热试并非实际发射，不会对公众安全或航空旅行构成威胁，美国联邦航空管理局和国家运输安全委员会均未计划监督蓝色起源的故障分析工作。
Blue Origin explosion threatens to delay NASA’s moon program
May 29, 2026 / 3:38 PM EDT / CBS News
The destruction of Blue Origin’s unmanned New Glenn rocket in a catastrophic launchpad explosion, along with apparently severe damage to the company’s only launch pad, sent shock waves through the U.S. space community Friday. The company could now be facing flight delays stretching months — if not longer — and could cause serious delays in NASA’s moon mission plans.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has not yet revealed what recorded telemetry and launchpad video might show about the cause of the Thursday night explosion at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. As always with such tests, the area had been evacuated and no injuries were reported.
“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos said in a post on X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
The titanic blast could be seen across a wide swath of Florida, shaking nearby homes and rattling windows as roiling clouds of flame billowed into the sky framed by arcing streaks of debris flying in all directions.
A Blue Origin rocket explodes on a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 28, 2026. SPACEFLIGHTNOW
Early Friday, Space Launch Delta 45 warned the public: “Debris from the anomaly could wash ashore along publicly accessible areas over the coming days and weeks. It is critical to report sightings to 911 for proper removal and mitigation. The debris could be hazardous and direct contact could pose health risks.”
The hot-fire test was being carried out in preparation for the New Glenn’s launch in early June on a flight to deploy 48 Amazon-owned internet satellites. The satellites were not on board the rocket for the engine firing and were not damaged in the mishap.
While the cause of the explosion was not immediately known, it appeared to originate at or near the base of the rocket’s first stage as its seven methane-burning BE-4 engines were igniting for the planned test.
In this shot of Launch Complex 36 from a helicopter, the New Glenn’s main gantry still stands, but it suffered structural damage near the bottom. The rocket itself was destroyed in the blast, along with its transporter-erector. Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
The engines generate a combined 4.5 million pounds of thrust at full power and if one or more BE-4s was to blame, the mishap almost certainly will affect United Launch Alliance, which uses the Blue Origin engines in the first stage of its new Vulcan rocket.
The explosion could have been triggered by a ruptured fuel line, a ground system or some other malfunction unrelated to the engines.
Delays to moon missions
Whatever the cause, the explosion marked a potentially serious blow to NASA’s Artemis moon program.
The space agency is counting on Blue Origin and SpaceX to launch Artemis moon landers next year to rendezvous and possibly dock with an Orion capsule launched atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. NASA plans to announce the four astronauts who will fly on that mission — Artemis III — on June 9.
An artist’s impression of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 moon lander. Blue Origin/NASA
The idea is to test rendezvous and docking procedures in Earth orbit before pressing ahead with one and possibly two astronaut moon landing missions in 2028. In addition, NASA expects Blue Origin to launch two unpiloted lunar cargo ships in the near future to carry prototype rovers to the lunar surface. An initial test flight was expected later this year.
Blue Origin’s landers are designed to launch atop New Glenn rockets and it now seems unlikely any such launch will be possible for many months, maybe not before the end of 2027.
Blue Origin’s Mark 1 moon lander, an unpiloted cargo ship that had been expected to make its first test flight later this year. NASA/Blue Origin
Depending on how long it takes for the company to return to flight, the Artemis III mission could be delayed into 2028, possibly pushing the planned moon landing flights into 2029, or NASA could be forced to carry out the Artemis III mission next year with just the SpaceX lander.
But that assumes SpaceX can be ready in time. The company’s Starship rocket is currently grounded because of engine failures in a recent test flight and it’s not clear when the Starship lander will be ready to fly again.
SpaceX’s moon lander, a variant of the company’s Starship rocket is shown in this artist’s impression compared to an Apollo lander. SpaceX/NASA
As for Blue Origin, initial damage assessments, especially those from afar, are often overly pessimistic and given Bezos’ resources, Blue Origin many be able to return to flight faster than expected, depending on what a detailed damage assessment reveals.
NASA will be paying close attention.
“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,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said late Thursday on X.
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” he continued. “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.”
Case of dêjà vu
In a similar mishap in September 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 exploded on pad 40, nearby Thursday’s explosion, destroying the rocket and an Israeli satellite and severely damaging the launchpad.
The failure happened in the final minutes before a hot-fire test when the Falcon 9, like the New Glenn, was fully loaded with explosive propellants. The SpaceX failure was blamed on a ruptured high-pressure helium tank inside the upper stage’s liquid oxygen tank.
SpaceX was able to resume flights 3 1/2 months later, but it took the company nearly 15 months to return pad 40 to operational status. In the meantime, the company was able to use two other pads, one at the Kennedy Space Center and the other at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, to keep flying.
That option isn’t available to Blue Origin. While the company plans to build a second pad at Cape Canaveral and another at Vandenberg, those projects have yet to get underway.
“Thinking about the entire team at Blue,” Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX vice president of launch operations, posted on X. “We’ve been there before and there are very few things worse than losing a vehicle on the pad.
“Remember @blueorigin, it’s the darkest before the dawn and you will be measured not by this anomaly, but by how you respond,” he said. “We are all rooting for you to get safely back to flight as soon as possible!”
SpaceX, meanwhile, launched a Falcon 9 rocket early Friday from pad 40 carrying another batch of Starlink internet satellites. United Launch Alliance, after making sure no debris from the New Glenn explosion affected their systems at nearby pad 41, planned to launch a set of Amazon Leo internet satellites Friday evening.
Helicopter views early Friday showed Blue Origin’s standalone lightning tower had been destroyed, along with the New Glenn transporter-erector used to haul the rocket from a hangar to the pad and then to rotate it vertical for launch. Both were visible Friday morning as charred piles of mangled debris.
The launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, was heavily damaged by the massive explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Asher Brinkman
Other signs of blast damage were apparent, but it was not clear if the pad’s propellant tanks, feed lines, sound-suppression water system or the New Glenn processing hangar were severely damaged.
Because the hot-fire test was not an actual launch and posed no threat to public safety or air travel, both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board had no plans to oversee Blue Origin’s failure analysis.
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