SpaceX got a rival: And Bezos’ Blue Origin recycled the rocket, but the mission found itself in trouble

This thruster was first used in the NG-2 mission in November 2025. After successfully grounding it then, they have now proven that it can be reused. This achievement puts Blue Origin in a position to compete directly with SpaceX in the fast-growing market for reusable rockets.

Historic second flight and landing

The rocket was launched on Sunday, and the “Never Tell Me The Odds” thruster returned to the Jacklyn floating unmanned platform ten minutes later, having successfully completed its mission of pushing the payload into orbit. The successful second landing caused excitement in mission control, and broadcast commentator Tabitha Lipkin excitedly announced the return.

​- Welcome back once again, Never Tell Me The Odds. It’s nice to say it twice – she said.

Sendsč in trouble

The load carried by the rocket is also significant. Riverč is about the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite, which in practice should function as a giant mobile transmitterč in space. The idea is that our phones will be able to connect to such satellites without any hardware or software upgrades. These satellites will be powerful and smart enough to mimic the operation of a regular transmitter, offering 4G and 5G speeds directly from orbit.

However, the company itself confirmed that not everything went according to plan. “The payload was placed into orbit beyond the nominal value. We are currently evaluating and will update the information when we have more detailed information,” stated Blue Origin. 75 minutes after takeoff, the satellite was supposed to be placed in a circular orbit 460 kilometers long with an inclination of 49.4 degrees.

The race with SpaceX is heating up

Just as with reusable rockets, Blue Origin and Amazon are competing with SpaceX and its Starlink in the field of satellite communications. Reusable rockets are key to deploying such mega-constellations of satellites because they drastically reduce launch costs.

Although SpaceX has a significant advantage, with some of its Falcon 9 thrusters having flown more than 30 times, Blue Origin is now showing that it has the technology to compete on an equal footing. The company has announced an ambitious plan of eight to twelve flights in the current year, and their thruster is designed to withstand at least 25 flights.