FAA grounds Blue Origin New Glenn after labeling mission to ‘mishap’ – Orlando Sentinel
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket following its Sunday launch from Cape Canaveral.
The rocket appeared good on the way in which up, however the higher stage wasn’t ready to put its payload into the proper orbit.
“The FAA is aware that Blue Origin New Glenn 3 experienced a mishap during the second-stage flight sequence following a successful launch,” in accordance to an FAA assertion launched Sunday night. “The FAA notified NASA, the NTSB, and the US Space Force about the classification of the incident.”
FAA pointers would require Blue Origin to full an investigation into the occasion earlier than the rocket is allowed to fly once more.
“A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again,” in accordance to FAA statements on previous groundings. “A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.”
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The New Glenn rocket, flying on its third mission ever, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 on Sunday morning. For the primary time, it used a booster that had been beforehand flown. The booster landed intact, which ought to permit it to be used once more.
While the booster’s launch and second touchdown was successful for the corporate, Blue Origin introduced the payload of the BlueHen 7 satellite tv for pc for Midland, Texas-based AST SpaceCell, had been “placed into an off-nominal orbit.”
On Monday, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp gave an replace, saying that early knowledge suggests a second burn of the higher stage didn’t present sufficient thrust to get to the goal orbit.
“While we are pleased with the nominal booster recovery, we clearly did not deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expectations,” I posted on
A information launch from AST SpaceCell on Sunday had confirmed deployment was at too low an altitude for its satellite tv for pc to turn into operational, because it didn’t have sufficient on-board thruster provide for it to climb to its required orbital place.
The firm should now deorbit the satellite tv for pc, which might have been its eighth in orbit. The value for the misplaced {hardware} is anticipated to be lined by insurance coverage.
Limp acknowledged Blue Origin is main the investigation with FAA oversight “to learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations.”
Limp didn’t make clear one different side of the mission. Blue Origin was additionally supposed to have lit its higher stage engine for a 3rd time after deploying its payload, in order that it might head again to Earth for a protected crash touchdown within the open ocean.
The FAA has grounded a number of rockets due to misshaps lately, together with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and in-development Starship. Blue Origin had its smaller, suborbital New Shepard rocket grounded as nicely.
Investigation timelines range, however can final for months earlier than a rocket is cleared to fly once more. SpaceX’s Falcon 9, although, was grounded for under 15 days in 2024 when it suffered an higher stage difficulty.
Blue Origin had been cleared to launch as many as 12 occasions a yr by the Space Force, and Limp had indicated earlier this yr he’d like to see New Glenn launch no less than eight occasions.
For now, the corporate had solely introduced two extra deliberate missions this yr, together with the MK1 Blue Moon lunar lander aiming to launch earlier than the tip of the summer time. Amazon has been ready for New Glenn to start a number of launches slated to proliferate its Amazon Leo constellation of satellites.
New Glenn made its debut in January 2025, changing into the primary industrial rocket to ever make it to orbit on its first attempt. A follow-up mission sending a pair of Mars-bound satellites to house got here in November.
This is definitely the second time New Glenn has been grounded. The first time was as a result of the corporate was not ready to land the booster on its debut launch.
In that incident, the FAA didn’t clear New Glenn to fly once more for two 1/2 months.