Blue Origin to Launch BlueBird 7 Satellite with New Glenn Rocket No Earlier than April 10th

Blue Origin is actively engaged on many fronts, even if it has not yet expressed its full potential (which could make it a competitor to SpaceX). Jeff Bezos's space company is continuing the construction of a second lunar lander, Blue Moon MK1, which could be launched next year, while the first model will be launched this year and is completing its final validation tests.

Meanwhile, the idea of Project Sunrise is taking shape, a large satellite constellation from Blue Origin dedicated to datacenters for AI, in addition to planetary protection missions thanks to the Blue Ring vehicle, which could be employed to deflect a dangerous asteroid. Of course, the Blue Moon MK2 lunar lander is also included for crewed missions of the Artemis program, with the first test planned for 2027 during the Artemis III mission.

Meanwhile, launches of the reusable New Glenn rocket are ongoing. The first launch sent into orbit a prototype of the multifunctional Blue Ring spacecraft, while the second carried the twin probes of NASA's ESCAPADE mission (heading to Mars). For the NG-3 mission, the launch of the BlueBird 7 satellite from AST SpaceMobile is scheduled.

At the end of January 2026, it was announced that this mission would take off by the end of February, but the company has faced several delays. In recent days, Blue Origin announced that the third mission of New Glenn will not launch before April 10, 2026. As mentioned, aboard will be the satellite dedicated to high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity, BlueBird 7.

This will be the first mission for the American company that foresees the reuse of the first stage, while the second stage, as with other missions, will be lost. It is still unclear whether Blue Origin has completely canceled Project Jarvis, an evolution of New Glenn that envisions the possibility of reusing both stages, but this variant (if not canceled) will debut sometime later. Currently, the company's goal is to increase the launch cadence and maintain complete control over the reusability of the first stage.