Blue Origin completes investigation into New Glenn launch failure
SpaceNews • • technology
Key Points:
- Blue Origin has completed its investigation into the April 19 failure of the New Glenn rocket's third flight, with the FAA approving the report and clearing the vehicle for future launches.
- The failure was caused by a cryogenic leak that froze a hydraulic line, resulting in one BE-3U engine not achieving full thrust during the second-stage burn, which left the payload in an unrecoverable low orbit.
- Blue Origin identified nine corrective actions to prevent recurrence, and the FAA will verify their implementation before the next New Glenn launch, NG-4, which is currently being prepared but has no disclosed schedule or customer.
- AST SpaceMobile, the NG-3 mission customer, is shifting to launch three BlueBird satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in June and expects the next New Glenn mission to carry four BlueBird satellites, though no specific timeframe was provided.
- Industry experts view the upper-stage anomaly as a common early-program issue and remain optimistic about Blue Origin's return to flight soon.