Facepalm: Blue Origin has hit another problem in its attempt to establish New Glenn as a serious rival to SpaceX. The FAA has grounded the heavy-lift rocket after its latest mission failed to place a customer payload into the intended orbit, triggering what the agency calls a mishap investigation.
The launch itself, which took place on April 19 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, didn't look like a disaster – at least not at first.
New Glenn lifted off normally, and Blue Origin successfully recovered the reusable first-stage booster on a drone ship, a major milestone for a company still trying to prove it can handle routine orbital missions. Even so, the failed payload delivery underscored how far Blue Origin still has to go before New Glenn can be considered dependable.
The problem came later, during second-stage operations, when the rocket failed to deliver AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite to its planned orbit.
That failure proved fatal for the payload. AST SpaceMobile said BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit, separated from the rocket, and powered on, but the altitude was too low for the satellite to sustain operations using its onboard propulsion.
The company said it will de-orbit the spacecraft, and that the loss is expected to be covered by insurance.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said early data points to trouble during the second burn of the upper stage. He added that one of the BE-3U engines did not produce enough thrust to reach the target orbit. That lines up with the FAA's statement that New Glenn 3 experienced a mishap during the second-stage flight sequence after an otherwise successful launch.
As usual in cases like this, New Glenn cannot fly again until Blue Origin completes its investigation. The FAA oversees the process, and the agency signs off on the final report and any corrective actions.
It's bad timing for Blue Origin, which has been trying to ramp up New Glenn's flight cadence and position the rocket for a mix of commercial, military, and NASA missions. This was the vehicle's third flight, and NASA is counting on New Glenn for future Blue Moon-related Artemis work.