Blue Origin Achieves First Reflight of New Glenn Booster but Mission Ends in Partial Failure

Blue Origin has achieved a milestone by successfully reusing its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time. The booster, named Never Tell Me the Odds, landed on a recovery ship after its second flight, following its initial launch in November 2025. This marks the second reuse of the booster, demonstrating progress in reusable rocket technology.

However, the mission’s commercial payload—a communications satellite—failed to reach the intended orbit. The launch proceeded smoothly, with the first-stage GS1 booster separating from the rocket after three minutes and landing 10 minutes post-launch, as confirmed by Jeff Bezos in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

"We have confirmed payload separation." — Blue Origin, via X
"AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit." — Blue Origin, via X

Several hours later, AST SpaceMobile provided further details in a press release. The satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, but its altitude of 95 miles was too low to sustain operations. The company stated that the satellite will de-orbit and that the cost will be recovered under its insurance policy.

The upper stage was designed to position the satellite into a 285-mile orbit after two burns. The satellite was intended to deploy a 2,400 square-foot antenna and connect with six other satellites to test AST SpaceMobile’s high-speed direct-to-cell network. Early telemetry data revealed the satellite only reached 95 miles, well below a sustainable orbit. The cause of the failure remains under investigation.

Despite the setback, Blue Origin can claim a significant achievement with the successful first-stage reuse, particularly as it occurred on just the third New Glenn mission (NG-3). For comparison, SpaceX required 32 flights before achieving its first successful reflight of an orbital-class booster.

Blue Origin faces pressure to resolve the upper-stage issue promptly, as its next mission is scheduled to launch the first Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) broadband satellites. The company plans to deploy 48 satellites to expand Amazon’s broadband constellation, which currently consists of 241 satellites.