Flight ban for Blue Origin strike and for Jeff Bezos plans

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the failure

The FAA officially called the incident an “accident” and launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the failure and define corrective measures that will prevent the recurrence of similar events in the future. The investigation will be conducted by Blue Origin under the strict supervision of the agency.

The agency’s press release states that “the return to flight is based on the FAA’s determination that no system, process or procedure related to the accident poses a threat to public safety.”

According to preliminary data, it appears that one of the two engines on the rocket’s upper stage did not produce enough thrust during the second ignition, resulting in a failure to place the satellite at the desired altitude.

Satellite lost, but rocket landed successfully

Because of this failure, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 communications satellite was placed in a too-low orbit of 95 miles (about 153 kilometers), instead of the planned 285 miles (about 458 kilometers), rendering it completely unusable, Engadget reported. The satellite, which was supposed to be part of the future space mobile network, will be de-orbited, and AST SpaceMobile stated that they expect the financial loss to be covered by insurance.

Despiteč failure of the main objective of the mission, the first stage of the rocket successfully landed on a floating platform in the ocean. It is significant that it was a booster that is larger. used in a previous, successful mission in November 2025, demonstrating the company’s progress in reusable technology.

A blow to future plans

This is not the first time the FAA has grounded New Glenn. The rocket was temporarily decommissioned even after its first flight in January 2025, when it strengthened. lost during landing attempt.

The agency has not yet announced when the rocket could be allowed to fly again. The grounding could disrupt Blue Origin’s ambitious plans, which include launching a large number of satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper project, a global internet network that is a direct competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink. In addition, the New Glenn rocket is also key to future missions of NASA’s Artemis program, whose goal is to return humans to the moon.