Setback for Blue Origin! Customer satellite put in wrong orbit
20 Apr 2026

Jeff Bezos's space venture, Blue Origin, has suffered a major setback with its New Glenn rocket.

The company had successfully reused one of its rockets for the first time on Sunday, but failed to deliver a communications satellite into the wrong orbit for customer AST SpaceMobile.

The upper stage of the New Glenn rocket placed the BlueBird 7 satellite into an orbit that was "lower than planned," according to AST SpaceMobile.

AST SpaceMobile will lose the satellite
Operational impact

Despite the orbital mishap, AST SpaceMobile confirmed that the satellite did separate from the rocket and power on.

However, its altitude is too low "to sustain operations," meaning it will now have to be de-orbited.

The cost of this loss is covered by AST SpaceMobile's insurance policy.

The company also has more BlueBird satellites in the pipeline, which will be ready in about a month.

New Glenn's 2nd mission with a customer payload
Mission details

This was New Glenn's second mission with a customer payload, the first being NASA's twin Mars-bound spacecraft in November last year.

The failure of the rocket's second stage could have wider implications beyond Blue Origin's immediate commercial plans.

The company is vying to become a key launch provider for NASA's Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.

Blue Origin remains committed to its lunar ambitions
Lander launch

Blue Origin had recently tested its first version of a lunar lander, which it plans to launch this year.

The company had hinted at launching this lander on New Glenn's third mission but opted for the AST SpaceMobile satellite instead.

Despite the setback, Blue Origin remains committed to its lunar ambitions with NASA.