Blue Origin cleared to fly New Glenn mega-rocket after April mishap
Blue Origin's New Glenn mega-rocket has been cleared to fly again after a previous mishap in April. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the rocket's return to service following a failure during its third flight, which resulted in a lost satellite. The company plans to launch New Glenn up to 12 times by the end of 2026, although the recent grounding may impact this schedule.
- ▪Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is no longer grounded after receiving FAA clearance.
- ▪The upper stage of New Glenn experienced a thermal issue during an April launch, leading to the loss of a satellite.
- ▪The company has implemented corrective measures but has not disclosed specific details.
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In Brief Posted: 2:37 PM PDT · May 22, 2026 Image Credits:Blue Origin Sean O'Kane Blue Origin cleared to fly New Glenn mega-rocket after April mishap Blue Origin’s new mega-rocket, New Glenn, is no longer grounded. The company said Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the rocket to fly again after the upper stage failed to deliver a commercial payload during an April launch. Blue Origin didn’t offer much detail, but said in a post on X that the New Glenn upper stage “experienced an off-nominal thermal condition” that caused one of the three rocket engines to produce lower-than-expected thrust. As a result, the AST SpaceMobile satellite that Blue Origin was supposed to put into orbit instead burned up in Earth’s atmosphere instead.
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