Rocket explodes on a Cape launch pad.
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded May 29, 2026 on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. No injuries were reported, and there was no threat to the public. The explosion occurred during a static fire test of a new first-stage booster. The New Glenn rocket was preparing for an upcoming launch from Cape Canaveral when the test went horribly wrong Thursday around 9PM. New Glenn is a relatively new rocket, with only three launches to date.
Blue Origin head Jeff Bezos tweeted that it’s to early to know the root cause of the explosion, but that the company will rebuild and get back to flying as soon as possible. The company is a critical partner in NASA’s plans to return to the moon. Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency is aware of the incident and is working with Blue Origin to determine the impact to the Artemis program.
A static fire or hot fire test consists of firing the rocket's engines to full power without actually launching the rocket. The goal is to test the performance of the rocket before launch day. The rocket's first and second stage were stacked on the launch pad when the engines were fired. Both were lost in the accident.
Debris from the explosion could wash up on Space Coast beaches. The Space Force says if you find any debris, don’t touch it, email missionrecovery@blueorigin.com
Florida Forever becomes Florida Never.
Florida Forever: Florida's main conservation land-buying program will receive no new money from the state next year. WFIT’s Terri Wright explains.
Earlier this year, the state Senate allocated $35 million for Florida Forever, while Governor Ron DeSantis proposed more than three times that amount. But the lawmaker’s new budget eliminates any new funding for the conservation program. Gil Smart, with the Friends of the Everglades, expressed dismay.
There seems to be this idea that it's a burden to the taxpayers, that acquiring land requires the actual purchase price, and requires the upkeep of it. For whatever reason, the appetite for actually acquiring these environmentally sensitive lands seems to be diminishing.
Instead, lawmakers proposed spending more than $400 million on conservation easements, paying ranchers and farmers to keep their land undeveloped, preserving it for agricultural use.
Rain is in our forecast.
Good news for the fight against the drought, but bad news for Friday night and weekend plans: rain is in the forecast for our area. Meteorologist Megan Borowski from the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network says that storms over the next few days won’t be our typical sea breeze thunderstorms,
Right so actually there’s a broader scale pattern that’s really going to ramp up storm activity for Florida’s east coast. Column winds have brought a plume of tropical moisture to our region and that moisture will stick around through at least the weekend. At the same time, rounds of mid-level energy are likely to stream in from the west, which should help to initiate widespread storm activity. And low-level winds from the west should route all of those storms toward the I-95 corridor. By Sunday, a cold front will sag into Florida, and that will provide another trigger for storm development.
Megan says that between today and late Sunday, rainfall accumulations between 2 and 3 inches are likely along the immediate coast, and 1 to 2 inches are expected inland, although locally higher amounts will be possible. She says that as storms train over the same locations, flooding will become increasingly possible.
