Blue Origin Secures Approval to Launch New Glenn Mega-Rocket After April Incident

Blue Origin’s impressive New Glenn mega-rocket is back in operation. The company announced on Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration has given the green light for the rocket to resume flights, following an incident in which the upper stage failed to deploy a commercial payload during an April launch.

While Blue Origin did not share extensive information, they noted in a post on X that the New Glenn upper stage “experienced an off-nominal thermal condition,” causing one of the three rocket engines to produce less thrust than anticipated. As a result, the AST SpaceMobile satellite intended for orbit instead disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere. (AST SpaceMobile confirmed it had insurance to cover the satellite’s loss.) Jeff Bezos’s space venture filed a report with the FAA and implemented “corrective measures,” although specific details were not revealed.

This incident took place during New Glenn’s third flight, which otherwise went smoothly. The company successfully reused the New Glenn booster stage for the first time, landing it a second time on a drone ship in the ocean.

With this approval, Blue Origin can continue its ambitious plans for New Glenn this year. The company aims to conduct up to 12 launches of the rocket by the end of 2026, though it’s unclear how the one-month pause has affected these objectives.