Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has been sidelined after a weekend mission ended with a satellite placed in the incorrect orbit, effectively dooming the payload.
The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, pointed to an engine malfunction on Monday as the likely cause. In a statement, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said early data suggests one of the upper stage engines didn’t generate sufficient thrust.
As a result, both the rocket’s upper stage and the satellite it carried reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Monday, according to the US Space Force, which offered no further details.
All future launches of the massive New Glenn rocket are now on hold while Blue Origin and the Federal Aviation Administration conduct a full investigation.
The mission lifted off Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable first-stage booster performed as expected, touching down on an ocean barge minutes after launch.
However, the upper stage failed to push the satellite into a high enough orbit for it to begin its intended mission.
The lost satellite belonged to AST SpaceMobile and was meant to join a constellation designed to deliver direct space-to-smartphone connectivity.
Sunday’s flight marked only the third mission for New Glenn, a towering rocket standing over 320 feet (98 meters) tall. Named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth in 1962, the rocket is central to Blue Origin’s future ambitions.
NASA is relying on New Glenn to carry Blue Moon lunar landers as part of the Artemis moon program, where it will compete alongside SpaceX’s Starship, which could land astronauts on the lunar surface as early as 2028.
