Blue Origin Reuses New Glenn Rocket for First Time, But Satellite Misses Target Orbit
First-stage booster successfully recovered, but upper stage issue leaves AST SpaceMobile payload in wrong orbit
Quick Look
- Blue Origin achieved its first reuse of a New Glenn rocket on the heavy-lift system's third flight, successfully recovering the booster on a drone ship.
- However, the mission was partially marred when the upper stage placed AST SpaceMobile's communications satellite into an orbit lower than planned, requiring de-orbiting.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Blue Origin has been developing New Glenn for over a decade, with the first launch occurring just over a year ago. The company is competing directly with SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 rocket dominates the global launch market largely due to its reusable boosters. This was only the third New Glenn flight, making the reuse achievement notable for a vehicle still in its early operational phase.
Blue Origin has successfully reused one of its New Glenn rockets for the first time ever, marking a major milestone for the heavy-launch system as Jeff Bezos' space company looks to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX. But the overall mission's success may be in question. Roughly two hours after the launch, Blue Origin revealed that the communications satellite that New Glenn carried to space for AST SpaceMobile wound up in an "off-nominal orbit," meaning something may have gone wrong with the rocket's upper stage. In other words, it appears the company missed the mark. "We have confirmed payload separation. AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on," the company wrote on X. "We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information." AST later said Blue Origin's rocket placed its satellite into an orbit that was "lower than planned," so the satellite will have to be de-orbited. According to a timeline provided by Blue Origin prior to the launch, the upper stage of New Glenn should have performed a second burn roughly one hour after the rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's unclear if that second burn ever happened, or if there were other problems with it, before the AST satellite was deployed. The company accomplished the reuse feat Sunday on just the third-ever launch of New Glenn, and a little more than one year after the first flight of the new rocket system, which has been in development for more than a decade. Making New Glenn reusable is crucial to its economics. SpaceX's ability to refly Falcon 9 rocket boosters is one of the main reasons why it has come to dominate the global orbital launch market. While Blue Origin has already sent a commercial payload to space with New Glenn — Sunday was the second-such mission — the company wants to use the rocket for NASA moon missions and to help both it and Amazon build space-based satellite networks. Blue Origin is currently finishing getting its first robotic moon lander ready for an attempted launch later this year. The booster that Blue Origin reflew on Sunday was the same one the company used in the second New Glenn mission in November. During that mission, the New Glenn booster helped put two robotic NASA spacecraft into space for a mission to Mars, before returning to a drone ship in the ocean. On Sunday, Blue Origin recovered the rocket booster a second time on a drone ship roughly 10 minutes after takeoff. Any trouble deploying AST's satellite could present a risk to Blue Origin's near-term plans for New Glenn. Blue Origin has a deal with the communications company to send multiple satellites to orbit over the next few years as it works to build out its own space-based cellular broadband network. This story has been updated with new information from Blue Origin and AST SpaceMobile.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Blue Origin will complete investigation into upper stage anomaly within 30-60 days
Likely · Within weeks
AST SpaceMobile will negotiate compensation or revised launch terms with Blue Origin
Likely · Within weeks
NASA will likely delay any critical moon missions pending investigation results
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- Did the upper stage second burn fail to occur, or did it occur but with insufficient thrust?
- Will AST SpaceMobile seek compensation or renegotiate their launch contract?
- How will this affect Blue Origin's NASA moon lander timeline?
