Blue Origin nails booster landing, blasts satellite in wrong orbit
FAA orders mishap probe after New Glenn rocket puts AST SpaceMobile satellite 'too low'
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is requiring Blue Origin to conduct a "mishap investigation" after the space company's New Glenn rocket delivered a communications satellite in the wrong orbit.
On Sunday, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos successfully reused and recovered a booster for its New Glenn rocket, but the uncrewed mission did not deliver the satellite from the company AST SpaceMobile.
The FAA said in a statement on Monday that "a return to flight of the New Glenn vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," adding that Blue Origin would lead the probe with FAA oversight.
'Target orbit not reached'
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a statement posted to social media that "early data suggest that on our second GS2 burn, one of the BE-3U engines didn't produce sufficient thrust to reach our target orbit."
"While we are pleased with the nominal booster recovery, we clearly didn't deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects," Limp said, adding that the company aims to "implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations."
WRONG ORBIT
Blue Origin launched on Sunday the “BlueBird 7” satellite from its Cape Canaveral, Florida space site aboard its "New Glenn" rocket
The satellite wasn’t injected high enough, according to AST SpaceMobile, the launch customer.
Shares of Nasdaq-listed AST SpaceMobile fell nearly 12% in premarket trading, and were down roughly 8% from Friday’s close as of mid-day Monday.
Blue Origin is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The New Glenn rocket, standing at 98 meters (321 feet) tall, lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral with its reused booster at about 7:25 am (1125 GMT) on Sunday carrying the "BlueBird7" satellite.
After liftoff, the rocket's two stages separated, with the upper stage continuing its journey carrying the satellite into space.
Its booster successfully landed on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean about nine minutes and 30 seconds after takeoff.
But the communications satellite was placed in a lower orbit than planned.
AST SpaceMobilae, which is working to develop a space-based cellular broadband network, said in a statement that "the altitude is too low to sustain operations."
"The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company's insurance policy," it said.
The New Glenn rocket is at the heart of Bezos's space ambitions as he competes with SpaceX, the rival company owned by fellow billionaire Elon Musk.
Both companies are working to develop lunar landers for NASA's Artemis programme.
