Blue Origin launched the company’s third new Glenn rocket on Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket’s second stage put the payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, into orbit unusable, officials said.
AST SpaceMobile of Midland, Texas, the builder of the BlueBird 7 satellite, said in a statement that the cellular relay station’s on-board propulsion system could not compensate for the lower-than-planned altitude.
Spectators on the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, enjoy Sunday morning’s launch as a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket blasts off carrying a next-generation cellular broadband satellite. The company later said the AST SpaceMobile Bluebird 7 satellite ended up in the wrong orbit. / Credit: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflightnow.com
“During the new Glenn 3 mission, Bluebird 7 was placed in a lower orbit than planned by the launch vehicle’s upper stage,” the company said. “When the satellite is separated from the launch vehicle and activated, the altitude is too low to operate with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbit.”
The cost of the satellite has not been disclosed, but the company says it is fully insured.
The new Glenn Blue, launched on Sunday, was Origin’s third and the first using a previously flown first stage. The company is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came at 7:25 a.m. ET, 40 minutes after an unexplained hold on the countdown. When the countdown finally reached zero, the giant rocket’s seven methane-burning BE-4 engines ignited with a ground-shaking roar and the booster began to climb atop 3.8 million pounds of thrust.
Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, posted a video showing the new Glenn first stage flying for the second time, making an on-target touchdown on the company’s landing barge on a downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. / Credit: Blue Origin
The first stage appeared to work flawlessly, closing and falling as planned about three minutes and nine seconds after liftoff. The rocket’s second stage, powered by two BE-3 engines, then ignited to continue the ascent to initial orbit.
The first stage, meanwhile, headed for Blue Origin’s landing barge, ranged several hundred miles down in the Atlantic Ocean, flying into an on-target touchdown nine minutes and 20 seconds after launch.
The same stage achieved the same feat last November on the second flight of the new Glenn – NG-2 – using a different engine.
“With our first refurbished booster we chose to replace all seven engines and test some upgrades, including a thermal protection system on one of the engine nozzles,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a previous social media post. “We plan to use the engines we flew for the NG-2 on future flights.”
About two and a half minutes after the first stage landed on Sunday, the engine of the second stage shut down as planned. The second upper stage engine firing was expected an hour and 10 minutes after launch, but that time came and went without any updates from Blue Origin.
About an hour later, however, the company had not released the satellite into its intended orbit. Post did not say whether the second upper stage engine firing actually occurred, or whether it lasted for its full duration.
“We have confirmed the payload split,” Blue Origin posted on X. “AST SpaceMobile has confirmed that the satellite is active. The payload was placed in nominal orbit. We are currently evaluating and will update when we have more detailed information.”
The BlueBird 7 satellite was equipped with a 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna, the largest civilian antenna of its type placed in low-Earth orbit.
The satellite is the second in a new generation of AST SpaceMobile data relay stations designed to deliver space-based 4G and 5G cellular broadband service directly to cell phone users anywhere in the world.
An artist’s impression of the AST SpaceMobile Bluebird satellites orbiting Earth, providing cellular broadband connectivity to users around the world. / Credit: AST SpaceMobile
The company plans to deploy up to 60 such “block two” Bluebirds in the initial constellation, launching with SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, Indian LVM3 boosters and Blue Origin’s new Glenn.
Despite Sunday’s mishap, AST SpaceMobile said it “continues to expect one orbital launch every one to two months through 2026, supported by contracts with multiple launch providers, and it continues to target approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026.”
Blue Origin plans to compete with SpaceX by deploying a fleet of Amazon-owned space-based LEO Internet satellites aimed at launching commercial, military and science satellites into Earth orbit and deep space while competing with SpaceX’s already established Starlink system.
Blur Origin is also developing lunar landers to deliver NASA cargo and astronauts to the lunar surface.
The new Glen Rocket is critical to all of those ventures. The company tentatively plans to launch a prototype Blue Moon lander on an unpiloted test flight late this summer or early fall, followed by one and possibly two launches of Amazon LEO Internet satellites before the end of the year.
But those plans will depend on the outcome of an investigation into what went wrong on Sunday.
