New Glenn: First setback for Jeff Bezos' giant rocket

Video from the channel AstroKevin, la Chaîne Espace et Astronomie about New Glenn, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 9:19. Language: French. Video type: News.

Weekly space news round-up that opens with New Glenn's first failure. On its third flight, on 19 April, Blue Origin's heavy launcher carried a payload for the AST SpaceMobile constellation, which aims to offer satellite phone service to the general public. For the first time a previously recovered first stage flew again — the one from the second flight in November — and it was successfully recovered once more.

The second stage suffered a problem in one of its engines and could not circularize the orbit: the payload was left in an unplanned 265 × 485 km orbit with an inclination of over 40°. Correcting it would have used up so much of the satellite's fuel that its working life would have been drastically shortened, so it will be deorbited; the operator will claim the insurance and Blue Origin must investigate the cause. The episode also covers other news: the collaboration between NASA and ESA on the Rosalind Franklin rover, planned for launch on Falcon Heavy in 2028; the delivery of the Japanese MMX mission at Tanegashima; the shutdown of Voyager 1's LECP instrument; the retirement of the barge Just Read the Instructions after 156 landings; and progress on Firefly Alpha, Neutron, Space Rider and Dream Chaser.

The failure comes just as Blue Origin's first robotic lunar lander has finished its tests, including the deployment of its high-gain antenna, and has returned to Florida to prepare for launch. That lander is meant to pave the way for a crewed version for the Artemis programme, so the company must guarantee there are no incidents on critical missions and reassure its customers.