Blue Origin’s New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch

Blue Origin, the aerospace venture founded by Jeff Bezos, marked a significant milestone on Sunday as it successfully re-used a New Glenn rocket for the first time. However, the company encountered a major setback when it failed to deliver a communications satellite for client AST SpaceMobile into the intended orbit. Later that day, AST SpaceMobile issued a statement revealing that the New Glenn rocket's upper stage had placed the BlueBird 7 satellite into an orbit lower than expected. Although the satellite detached from the rocket and powered on successfully, the altitude was deemed insufficient for operational purposes, necessitating its eventual de-orbiting to safely burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Fortunately, the loss of the satellite is covered by insurance, and AST SpaceMobile is preparing to complete additional BlueBird satellites within about a month. Despite this setback, AST SpaceMobile has diversified contracts beyond Blue Origin and anticipates launching an impressive 45 satellites into space by the end of 2026. This incident marks a significant challenge for the New Glenn program, which has only recently begun operations after a decade of development. The latest mission was the second to carry a customer payload, following a successful launch for NASA that sent twin spacecraft to Mars last November. The implications of this incident could extend beyond Blue Origin's immediate commercial goals. The company is vying to become a key launch provider for NASA's Artemis missions aimed at returning humans to the Moon. Pressure from both NASA and the previous administration has emphasized the need for reliable lunar lander deployments by the end of President Donald Trump's term. Blue Origin's CEO, Dave Limp, has expressed a commitment to expedite NASA's lunar endeavors, stating that the company will do everything in its power to assist. Recently, Blue Origin completed tests on its lunar lander, which is expected to be launched later this year. The mission on Sunday began smoothly, with the New Glenn rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:35 a.m. local time. This launch utilized the same booster that had flown during the previous New Glenn mission. Approximately ten minutes after liftoff, the booster successfully returned to a drone ship, an event even celebrated by Jeff Bezos, who shared footage of the landing on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. However, just two hours post-launch, Blue Origin announced that the satellite had been placed in an 'off-nominal orbit.' Since then, the company has not provided further updates. Blue Origin's approach to launching commercial payloads during these early missions has been viewed as a sign of confidence in the New Glenn rocket's development, especially when compared to SpaceX's recent strategy of testing with dummy payloads. SpaceX has experienced its own challenges, including the loss of payloads during earlier Falcon 9 missions. As Blue Origin navigates this incident, its future missions and partnerships will be closely watched, especially in light of its aspirations within the competitive space launch industry.