Blue Origin Rocket Grounded Following Satellite Launch Mishap
Blue Origin's latest rocket, New Glenn, has been grounded after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated an investigation into a "mishap" involving the unsuccessful launch of a satellite.
The aerospace company, founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, attempted to deploy a satellite from AST SpaceMobile using the New Glenn rocket but failed to reach the intended orbit altitude.
Blue Origin's chief executive, Dave Limp, attributed the failure to insufficient engine thrust.
"We clearly didn't deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects," Limp stated.
The incident caused AST SpaceMobile's share price to drop by over 6% on Monday.
Blue Origin is conducting an investigation into the event, which occurred on Sunday, under FAA supervision.
A spokesperson for the FAA commented:
"The FAA is requiring Blue Origin to conduct a mishap investigation. The FAA will oversee the Blue Origin-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process and approve Blue Origin's final report, including any corrective actions."
Limp emphasized that the investigation will enable Blue Origin to learn from the data and implement necessary improvements to resume flight operations promptly.
"The investigation will allow Blue Origin to 'learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations.'"
The FAA will decide when the New Glenn rocket can be launched again based on the investigation's findings.
Sunday's mission marked only the third flight of the New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin had planned approximately a dozen launches for the year.
The rocket was carrying an AST SpaceMobile satellite intended for low Earth orbit to provide mobile phone connectivity. However, since New Glenn did not deploy the satellite into the required orbit, the satellite will be rendered unusable.
AST SpaceMobile announced on Sunday that the loss would be covered by insurance but did not disclose the financial impact.
Satellites designed to offer internet access to consumers and businesses, including in remote or difficult-to-access areas, are becoming an increasingly popular venture for technology companies.
Earlier this year, Blue Origin revealed plans to launch thousands of such satellites into low Earth orbit as part of a new initiative called TerraWave.
Amazon is also expanding its presence in space, having recently acquired a satellite manufacturer and operator for $11 billion (£8.5 billion) to develop its own project named Leo.
Both Blue Origin's TerraWave and Amazon's Leo projects appear to be efforts to compete with Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned company that already operates several thousand satellites providing connectivity to consumers.
Starlink is a major component of SpaceX, the Musk company expected to go public this year in what could be a record-breaking stock market listing.
