Updated at 2:35 p.m. Eastern, because bad news likes to be punctual. Blue Origin’s New Glenn, on its third flight April 19, suffered a second-stage malfunction that stranded its payload, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite, in an unrecoverable “off-nominal” orbit. Because why settle for the intended destination when you can explore new ones?
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 at 7:25 a.m. Eastern, 40 minutes into a two-hour window, after a countdown hold for an unspecified technical issue. Nothing says 'go for launch' like last-minute troubleshooting.
BlueBird 7 was scheduled to deploy into a 460-kilometer circular orbit at 49.4 degrees inclination, about 75 minutes after liftoff. This was planned for five minutes after a 68-second second burn of the upper stage’s BE-3U engines. However, Blue Origin ended its webcast after the first stage landing and provided no updates on the burn or deployment when they were due, a masterclass in suspense.
An hour after scheduled separation, Blue Origin confirmed on social media that BlueBird 7 had separated and powered on, but was placed into an off-nominal orbit. They are 'assessing,' which is corporate speak for 'figuring out what went wrong.'
Tracking data from the U.S. Space Force showed the upper stage and satellite in an initial parking orbit of 154 by 494 kilometers with an inclination of 36.1 degrees. Blue Origin hadn’t released these details before the second burn, perhaps hoping no one would check.
AST SpaceMobile, in a statement nearly seven hours later, said the orbit was too low for the spacecraft’s electric propulsion to recover from, and it will be de-orbited. The cost is expected to be covered by insurance, because when your 6,100-kilogram satellite goes astray, it’s good to have a policy. A March 2 SEC filing noted launch insurance costs 3.0% to 20.0% of the insured value, varying with market conditions and the launch vehicle’s safety record - a detail that now feels particularly poignant.
The upper stage problem overshadowed the launch’s milestone: the first reflight of a New Glenn first stage. The booster, named “Never Tell Me The Odds,” touched down on the Jacklyn platform in the Atlantic Ocean nearly nine and a half minutes after liftoff. However, reuse was only partial, as all seven BE-4 engines were new. Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, said in an April 13 post that for this refurbished booster, they replaced all engines to test upgrades, because why reuse everything when you can have shiny new parts?
Reuse is critical for Blue Origin to ramp up launch rates, but the company has been coy with forecasts. Laura Maginnis, vice president of New Glenn mission management, said at a March 24 panel they’re scaling up to meet 'significant' market demand, but didn’t specify launch numbers this year. Because why commit to specifics when vagueness is an option?
BlueBird 7, with a mass of 6,100 kilograms and a phased-array antenna area over 220 square meters, was meant for broadband direct-to-device services. AST SpaceMobile planned to launch 45 to 60 satellites this year, but BlueBird 7 is the first since BlueBird 6 in December. CEO Abel Avellan committed to having 45 satellites in orbit and 60 ready to ship by 2026, with future satellites batched in groups of three, four, six, or eight per launch.
He expected New Glenn boosters to be reused every 30 days or less after this launch. Despite the failure, AST SpaceMobile still expects one to two launches per month through year-end and 45 satellites in orbit by then. They didn’t disclose how with New Glenn potentially out for months, because optimism is a strategy, apparently.