Blue Origin’s rocket explosion is a big setback for NASA’s moon goals

SpaceBlue Origin’s rocket explosion is a big setback for NASA’s moon goalsNASA had tapped Jeff Bezos’ rocket company to carry vehicles to the moon this year and had hoped to test its lunar lander in the Artemis III mission. Both now seem unlikely.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00The Blue Origin rocket explosion in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday.NSF / NASASpaceflight.comShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 29, 2026, 4:46 PM EDTBy Denise ChowThe giant explosion of a Blue Origin rocket on Thursday evening is a major setback not only for Jeff Bezos’ space company but also for NASA, as it could delay efforts to land astronauts on the moon and begin construction of a base on the lunar surface.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The company must now reckon with the loss of one of its few New Glenn rockets, the destruction of its only operational launch pad for those rockets, and what could be months or years of investigation and delays before the booster can return to flight.NASA will face the same uncertainties. Blue Origin was expected to play a central role in the agency’s return-to-the-moon program. The company has been competing with SpaceX to build lunar landers that can transport astronauts from Earth orbit to the moon. NASA planned to test one or both of those commercially built landers during its Artemis III mission next year. Three days ago, Blue Origin also won a major contract to carry two robotic landers to the moon for NASA on missions scheduled to launch later this year.“Overall, it’s a huge setback for Blue Origin,” said Kathleen Curlee, a research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Its administrator, Jared Isaacman, wrote Thursday in a post on X: “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult.”Add NBC News to GoogleBlu...