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Blue Origin Reuses Booster, Satellite Lost in Orbit

Is Blue Origin's booster recovery a historic technological milestone or is it overshadowed by New Glenn's second stage failures?

Published APR 20

Blue Origin Reuses Booster, Satellite Lost in Orbit

Story

Above: A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 19. Image credit: Paul Hennesy/Anadolu via Getty Images

The Facts

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket achieved liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:25 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Sunday, carrying AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite, in what was the 320-foot-tall heavy-lift rocket's third flight.
Blue Origin on X
Blue Origin
Blue Origin
The mission marked the first time Blue Origin had successfully reused a previously flown New Glenn booster. Nicknamed "Never Tell Me the Odds," the booster landed on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean roughly 10 minutes after liftoff.
Blue Origin on X
Jeff Bezos on X
The Wall Street Journal
CBS News
Despite the successful booster recovery, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit by the rocket's upper stage. AST SpaceMobile said the altitude was too low to sustain operations and that the satellite would be de-orbited.
AST SpaceMobile
The company added that it expects the loss of the satellite to be covered by AST SpaceMobile's insurance policy, before reaffirming its commitment to launch approximately 45 satellites into orbit by the end of 2026, with BlueBird 8 to 10 expected to ship within about 30 days.
AST SpaceMobile
The BlueBird 7 featured a 2,400-square-foot phased array, which AST SpaceMobile described as the largest of its kind ever deployed in low-Earth orbit, designed to provide 4G and 5G broadband services directly to smartphones worldwide.
AST SpaceMobile
AST SpaceMobile on X
The launch comes amid an ongoing competition between Blue Origin and SpaceX to develop lunar landers for NASA's Artemis program, with the former developing the "Blue Moon" lander. SpaceX, meanwhile, is building a Starship-based Human Landing System for NASA's operations.
The Telegraph
TechCrunch
Blue Origin
SpaceX

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The Spin

Narrative A

Blue Origin has made history by joining an exclusive club of pioneers with the successful recovery of the "Never Tell Me the Odds" booster. The landing was picture-perfect, marking another milestone for the program and demonstrating that the growing space industry is hitting its stride with the effective deployment of reusable launch systems.

Jared Isaacman on X

Blue Origin on X

Narrative B

A clean booster landing means little when the rocket's upper stage keeps malfunctioning — marking the second time New Glenn's second stage has underperformed. This disaster left the BlueBird 7 stranded in an unusable orbit, signifying both the launch's failure and a costly loss for AST SpaceMobile's broadband network ambitions.