Blue Origin's New Glenn Suffers Third Mission Failure as Upper Stage Anomaly Sends BlueBird 7 to Wrong Orbit
Summary: On April 19, 2026, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket performed its third orbital mission (NG-3), carrying the BlueBird 7 satellite for AST SpaceMobile. The rocket's upper stage (second stage) malfunctioned during deployment, leaving the satellite in an orbit far below its designed operational altitude. AST SpaceMobile confirmed the satellite cannot maintain long-term operations and will be deorbited in a controlled re-entry. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp subsequently said the company expects 8–12 New Glenn launches in 2026 and may attempt a lunar landing in the second half of the year.
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Event Summary
New Glenn lifted off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 19, 2026. The first-stage booster performed nominally and achieved a successful landing. However, the second stage — powered by two BE-3U liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engines — deviated from its planned trajectory during satellite deployment, causing BlueBird 7 to be delivered to a non-nominal orbit.
AST SpaceMobile issued a statement confirming that the BlueBird 7 satellite was placed in a lower-than-planned orbit. The company said the orbital altitude is too low for the satellite's own propulsion system to sustain long-term operations, and the satellite will undergo a controlled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. AST SpaceMobile added that it expects to maintain a launch cadence of one to two missions per month going forward, with losses covered by insurance.
Blue Origin also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the upper stage failed to deliver the payload to the intended orbit, with the team assessing the specific cause.
Technical Background
New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with a 7-meter diameter and approximately 98 meters in height. The first stage is powered by seven BE-4 liquid oxygen-methane engines, while the second stage uses two BE-3U liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engines. The NG-3 mission was New Glenn's third orbital flight attempt:
- NG-1 (January 2025): First flight — payload reached intended orbit but booster recovery failed
- NG-2 (November 2025): Full mission success including booster landing
- NG-3 (April 19, 2026): Upper stage anomaly, payload delivered to wrong orbit
While the booster recovery technology has been validated across multiple missions, the second-stage performance reliability remains an ongoing challenge for the New Glenn program.
Impact and Response
Despite the NG-3 failure, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp expressed confidence in the company's 2026 launch roadmap. He stated that Blue Origin anticipates conducting 8–12 New Glenn launches this year, with sufficient hardware already in production. Limp also mentioned the possibility of a lunar landing attempt in the second half of 2026, which would mark Blue Origin's debut in commercial lunar delivery services.
The NG-3 failure also poses a setback for AST SpaceMobile's satellite internet constellation. The company is building a space-based cellular broadband network designed to provide direct communication to standard mobile phones on the ground. The loss of BlueBird 7 means AST must accelerate the launch schedule for subsequent satellites to close the gap in its constellation deployment.