Blue Origin's New Glenn places customer satellite in wrong orbit
Original: Blue Origin’s New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch
Why This Matters
First major failure for Blue Origin's commercial rocket program amid NASA lunar mission competition
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket successfully reused its first stage for the first time but failed its primary mission, placing AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite in an orbit too low to sustain operations during its third launch on Sunday.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin achieved its first rocket reuse milestone with New Glenn but experienced its first major failure when the upper stage placed AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 communications satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit. The satellite successfully separated and powered on but must now be de-orbited due to unsustainable altitude. AST SpaceMobile confirmed the loss is covered by insurance and expects to complete successive BlueBird satellites within a month, with contracts to launch 45 more by end of 2026. This marks New Glenn's first customer payload failure since the program's January 2025 debut after over a decade of development. The setback could impact Blue Origin's broader ambitions as a key NASA Artemis mission provider, as the company pushes to deliver lunar landers by the end of Trump's second term.