{"id":9573,"date":"2026-04-20T17:23:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-launches-third-new-glenn-rocket-but-payload-ends-up-in-wrong-orbit\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:23:54","slug":"blue-origin-launches-third-new-glenn-rocket-but-payload-ends-up-in-wrong-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-launches-third-new-glenn-rocket-but-payload-ends-up-in-wrong-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin launches third New Glenn rocket, but payload ends up in wrong orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Spectators along the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, enjoy a spectacular Sunday morning launch, taking in the view of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket blasting off carrying a next-generation cellular broadband satellite. The company said later the AST SpaceMobile Bluebird 7 satellite ended up in the wrong orbit. Photo: Adam Bernstein\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blue Origin launched the company\u2019s third New Glenn rocket Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket\u2019s payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, ended up in the wrong orbit, the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have confirmed payload separation,\u201d Blue Origin, owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, posted on X. \u201cAST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bluebird 7 satellite, built by AST SpaceMobile in Midland, Texas, is equipped with a 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna, the largest civilian antenna of its type ever put in low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

The satellite is the second in a new generation of AST SpaceMobile data relay stations designed to seamlessly provide space-based 4G and 5G cellular broadband service directly to users anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin provided no additional information about the nature of Bluebird 7\u2019s unplanned orbit and it was not immediately known what options, if any, might exist to eventually achieve the planned orbit.<\/p>\n

But the launch clearly marked a setback to AST SpaceMobile\u2019s timeline for deploying up to 60 such \u201cblock two\u201d Bluebirds in an initial constellation, launching them with SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, Indian LVM3 boosters and Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn.<\/p>\n

The New Glenn launched Sunday was Blue\u2019s third and the first using a previously flown first stage.<\/p>\n

\"\"
New Glenn rises from Launch Complex 36 on Sunday, April 19, 2026, near the historic Cape Canaveral lighthouse. Photo: John Pisani\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came at 7:25 a.m. EDT, 40 minutes after an unexplained hold in the countdown. When the count finally hit zero, the towering rocket\u2019s seven methane-burning ME-4 engines ignited with a ground shaking roar and the booster began climbing away atop 3.8 million pounds of thrust.<\/p>\n

The first stage appeared to work flawlessly, shutting down and falling away as planned about three minutes and nine seconds after liftoff. The rocket\u2019s second stage, powered by two BE-3 engines, then ignited to continue the climb to an initial orbit.<\/p>\n

The first stage, meanwhile, headed for a Blue Origin\u2019s landing barge stationed several hundred miles down range in the Atlantic Ocean, flying itself to an on-target touchdown about nine minutes and 20 seconds after launch.<\/p>\n

The same stage accomplished the same feat last November during the second flight of a New Glenn \u2014 NG-2 \u2014 albeit using a different set of engines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our first refurbished booster we elected to replace all seven engines and test out a few upgrades including a thermal protection system on one of the engine nozzles,\u201d Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in an earlier social media post. \u201cWe plan to use the engines we flew for NG-2 on future flights.\u201d<\/p>\n