The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an immediate halt to launches of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket after its latest mission was officially classified as a ‘mishap’, reports Orlando Sentinel. The rocket launched successfully and even landed its first-stage booster, but the upper stage failed during the final burn needed to place the satellite into the correct orbit. Because of this, the payload was left in a lower, unusable trajectory. Under the US rules, this kind of failure automatically pauses future launches until Blue Origin completes an investigation and fixes the issue.
The New Glenn vehicle lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in what initially appeared to be a largely successful mission. The rocket’s first stage, a reusable booster designed to support multiple flights, performed as planned and successfully returned to Earth, landing on a sea-based recovery platform. This marked a key milestone for the program, demonstrating that the reusable booster system can work in real mission conditions.
However, the success of the booster was overshadowed by problems in the upper stage, which is responsible for placing satellites into precise orbits. During the final phase, the engine did not complete its planned circularisation burn – the critical manoeuvre that adjusts a spacecraft’s speed and altitude to achieve a stable orbit. The payload, BlueBird-7, a communications satellite built by AST SpaceMobile, successfully separated and powered on, but was deployed into a lower-than-required orbit. Lacking sufficient onboard propulsion to correct its trajectory, the satellite is unlikely to be recovered and is expected to gradually descend and burn up during atmospheric re-entry. Following the incident, AST SpaceMobile’s shares fell, reflecting investor concern after the loss of a key satellite, turning the mission into a commercial setback despite partial technical success.
Although no injuries or damage to public property were reported, the FAA’s classification of the event as a mishap clearly shows the seriousness of the failure. Under US commercial space regulations, a mishap includes any incident involving a launch vehicle that results in a failure to achieve mission objectives or demonstrates unexpected behaviour that could pose safety risks. As a result, Blue Origin is now required to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the root cause of the irregularity. The company must identify what went wrong, implement corrective measures, and demonstrate to regulators that the issue has been resolved before it can resume launches.
Preliminary indications suggest that the problem originated in the upper-stage propulsion system, possibly involving premature engine cutoff or issues with guidance and burn timing during the orbital insertion phase. Engineers are expected to examine telemetry data, engine performance metrics, and flight software behaviour to pinpoint the exact cause. The setback comes at a crucial time for Blue Origin. New Glenn is designed to compete directly with other heavy-lift rockets in the commercial launch market, particularly those operated by SpaceX.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
