The first-stage booster completed its second successful flight and recovery, a milestone that positions Jeff Bezos’s firm to finally challenge the dominance of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. However, the mission’s second stage faltered, depositing the BlueBird 7 cell-tower-in-space into an orbit too low to maintain. AST SpaceMobile confirmed the satellite powered on after separation but lacked the on-board thruster capacity to climb to its operational altitude.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn hits landing mark but loses satellite payload
The roar of a successful landing was muffled by a critical orbital failure this weekend, as Blue Origin’s New Glenn booster touched down safely on a drone ship while the mission’s primary cargo, an AST SpaceMobile satellite, failed to reach its intended destination and faces imminent destruction.
Following the anomaly, the FAA grounded the New Glenn vehicle, initiating a mandatory investigation into the upper-stage performance. AST SpaceMobile intends to recoup the satellite’s value through insurance, maintaining that production continues for the next units in its broadband constellation. With BlueBird 8 through 10 slated for delivery within the month, the company aims to move past this setback as it builds out its space-based cellular network.
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