AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7: Blue Origin successfully launched a used first stage New Glenn rocket

For Blue Origin, this is a historic moment. Jeff Bezos's company successfully launched a reusable New Glenn rocket for the NG-3 mission dedicated to the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 communications satellite (an image of BlueBird 6 was released not too long ago), as previously indicated. The peculiarity relates to the first stage of the vehicle, which had already been used for the November 2025 NG-2 mission for the NASA ESCAPADE mission.

This marks for Blue Origin the ability to reuse (part) of the hardware, which, in the long term, will lead to an increase in the launch cadence of New Glenn. As clarified by Dave Limp (CEO of the American company), the reused first stage for the NG-3 mission, called "Never Tell Me The Odds," has been refurbished, but the 7 BE-4 engines located at the base have also been replaced. According to Limp, the choice was due to the need to test some modifications, including a thermal protection system on one of the nozzles. This does not mean that the BE-4 engines used during NG-2 were destroyed, but that they will be used in the future on other units.

Blue Origin launches a New Glenn rocket for the third time The launch of the New Glenn rocket took place at 13:25 today (Italian time) from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As noted above, onboard was the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite designed to create a network for satellite mobile connectivity directly on devices such as smartphones, tablets, and others (competing with SpaceX's Direct to Cell, now called Starlink Mobile).

In recent days, it had also been confirmed that the UK's communication services regulator (Ofcom) approved the use of the service provided by AST SpaceMobile with BlueBird technology in collaboration with the Vodafone phone operator starting this summer. This will allow eligible users to connect to the satellite network with their smartphones without hardware or software modifications, as already occurs in some countries thanks to Starlink Mobile.

Returning to the launch of the NG-3 mission by Blue Origin and the stage separation and fairing opening, the second stage GS-2 continued the mission in orbit while the first stage, dubbed "Never Tell Me The Odds," successfully returned to the drone ship Jacklyn, hitting the target again, after the NG-2 mission last year. Blue Origin also confirmed that this booster used a new lower support system with a different coating compared to previous missions.

As stated at the beginning, this is a historic moment for the company that brings it closer to what SpaceX has done with its Falcon 9. However, not everything went as planned. After the shutdown of the second stage engines (as expected for the SECO-1 phase) and the coasting phase in orbit, Blue Origin confirmed the separation of the payload (BlueBird 7) and its successful ignition but in a non-nominal orbit. This could be a problem because the Hall-effect thrusters of the satellite may not have sufficient performance to correct the trajectory, leading to an early re-entry of BlueBird 7 (or excessive propellant consumption, limiting its operational lifetime).

The first data released by the Space Force for monitoring satellites and stages indicate an orbit of 154 x 494 km with an inclination of 36.1° when the nominal information indicated reaching an orbit of 460 x 460 km with an inclination of 49.4°. In a statement, AST SpaceMobile confirmed the problem and that, due to the low orbit, BlueBird 7 will be deorbited. The company added that the costs of this loss will be covered by insurance, while within 30 days, the satellites BlueBird 8, BlueBird 9, and BlueBird 10 will be completed and then sent for integration with the vehicle.