Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket grounded after delivering satellite to wrong orbit

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket after it shuttled its payload to the wrong orbit during its launch on Sunday, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. “The FAA is aware that Blue Origin New Glenn 3 experienced a mishap during the second-stage flight sequence following a successful launch,” the FAA said in a statement obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

On Sunday, the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin successfully launched New Glenn from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Though the rocket’s reusable booster returned to its landing pad without issue, the rocket’s upper stage failed to deliver AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite. AST SpaceMobile says the satellite “was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit,” which is “too low to sustain operations.” The satellite will be de-orbited as a result.

Blue Origin confirmed that its second stage shut off its engines and was in a “coast phase” after reaching an “off-nominal” orbit, but it didn’t provide any other details about what went wrong or when it will return to Earth. As noted by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, Space Force data shows an object in orbit, but it’s unclear whether it’s tracking the AST satellite or New Glenn’s upper stage. Neither the FAA nor Blue Origin immediately responded to The Verge’s request for comment.