New Glenn: Rocket lands successfully – but satellite apparently lost! What happened?
Video from the channel Shah Cyrux about New Glenn, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:43. Language: German. Video type: Launch.
The mission
The video reviews New Glenn's third flight (NG-3), launched on April 19 from Space Launch Complex 36 at the Space Force station in Cape Canaveral. It carried AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 mobile communications satellite, about 6 t, bound for a low orbit of around 460 km at 49.4° inclination. It was the first mission since the first stage's recovery in November 2025, and another landing attempt on the sea platform Jacklyn was planned for the booster.
Sequence
After a hold around T-4 minutes, the rocket lifted off around 13:30 German time with its seven BE-4 engines. It passed the maximum dynamic pressure phase around the minute-and-a-half mark. Around three minutes, the first stage's engines shut down, the stages separated, and the second stage's two BE-3U engines ignited, traveling at about 7,400 km/h at an altitude of 88 km; the payload fairing then jettisoned. The first stage lit three engines to brake and landed on Jacklyn using the center engine. Around 13 minutes, the second stage reached about 27,000 km/h and shut down its engines. The plan called for a second burn around the 70-minute mark and payload separation five minutes later.
Outcome
Blue Origin reported that the satellite separated and powered on, but into a non-nominal orbit. According to Jonathan McDowell, the Space Force catalogued an object in a 154 by 494 km orbit, with too low a perigee. At the time the video was recorded, it was not known whether the second burn had actually occurred or whether the satellite could be saved. The booster's landing, New Glenn's second, did demonstrate that the recovery is repeatable.