Blue Origin schedules third New Glenn launch for late February, but not to the moon

Blue Origin is preparing for the third launch of its New Glenn rocket, scheduled for late February. However, this mission will not involve a journey to the moon, contrary to earlier expectations. Instead, the rocket will transport a satellite into low-Earth orbit for AST SpaceMobile, marking the second commercial payload flight for the New Glenn rocket. The decision to launch the AST SpaceMobile satellite instead of their own lunar lander, Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1), has not been clarified by the company. Currently, the lunar lander is en route to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas for crucial vacuum chamber testing, with no launch date established for that mission yet. This upcoming launch will be significant as it represents the third flight of New Glenn within just over a year, following a decade-long development process. February promises to be a particularly busy month for space exploration. NASA is aiming to launch its Artemis II mission, which will see four astronauts orbiting the moon, potentially as early as February 6. Additionally, SpaceX is expected to begin testing its third iteration of the Starship rocket, while NASA and SpaceX prepare for the Crew-12 mission to restore the International Space Station's staffing post a recent medical evacuation of the Crew-11 team. For this mission, Blue Origin plans to reuse the booster stage from New Glenn's second flight, which successfully took place last November. The booster was recovered through a landing on a drone ship at sea, a method popularized by SpaceX with its Falcon 9 boosters. New Glenn represents Blue Origin's inaugural vehicle designed for regular payload delivery to Earth orbit and beyond, building upon the legacy of the suborbital New Shepard rocket program that has been operational for over a decade. The company has secured a contract with AST SpaceMobile to launch multiple satellites, aiding in the establishment of a space-based cellular broadband network. Moreover, New Glenn is part of Blue Origin's broader vision. The company recently unveiled a super-heavy variant of New Glenn, which will exceed the height of the historic Saturn V rocket and compete with SpaceX's Starship. Additionally, the announcement of a satellite internet constellation named TeraWave, with deployment planned for late 2027, showcases the company's ambitions. Blue Origin also aims to utilize its Blue Moon landers for missions to the moon and Mars, alongside developing another spacecraft, Blue Ring, which will support and deploy payloads for other companies in the space sector.