New Glenn Booster 'Never Tell Me the Odds' Lands but Misplaces BlueBird 7 Satellite
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket booster 'Never Tell Me the Odds' landed successfully after its third flight, but its upper stage placed AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit, delaying its space-based cellular broadband mission. The setback risks ceding LEO broadband market share to Amazon's Project Kuiper.
1. Successful Booster Recovery
The New Glenn rocket launched from Florida on Sunday completed a successful booster recovery when its first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me the Odds' touched down approximately 10 minutes after liftoff. This marked the third flight and recovery for the booster, following its previous mission in November, demonstrating Blue Origin's progress toward reliable reusable launch capability.
2. Satellite Orbit Anomaly
Despite the successful booster landing, the launch vehicle's upper stage placed the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 communications satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit. AST reported that this orbit anomaly will require additional maneuvers to reach operational altitude, potentially delaying its effort to establish a space-based cellular broadband network.
3. Implications for Broadband Networks
The failure heightens competition in the LEO broadband sector, where Amazon's Project Kuiper and SpaceX's Starlink are targeting similar markets. Delays for AST could allow Amazon to accelerate its own satellite deployments, while raising questions about Blue Origin's readiness to support commercial payloads at scale.