Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, blamed a bad engine Monday for a failed weekend launch that left a satellite in the wrong orbit, dooming it.
Launches of the huge New Glenn rocket are grounded until Blue Origin and the Federal Aviation Administration complete their investigation.
The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday. The recycled first-stage booster performed well, landing on an ocean barge several minutes into the flight. But the upper stage was unable to put the satellite into a high enough orbit to begin operations.
Preliminary data indicate that one of the upper stage engines failed to produce enough thrust, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said Monday.
There was no immediate word on when or where the rocket’s upper stage or the AST SpaceMobile satellite might plunge through the atmosphere. The satellite was supposed to join AST SpaceMobile’s orbiting network of satellites designed to provide direct space-to-smart phone service.
It was only the third flight for New Glenn, Blue Origin’s hulking rocket for delivering spacecraft to orbit. NASA is counting on New Glenn to launch Blue Moon lunar landers for the Artemis moon program. SpaceX’s Starship is also in the running to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2028.
Towering more than 320 feet (98 meters), the rocket is named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.
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