Blue Origin cleared to launch New Glenn rocket again after FAA investigation
Key takeaways
- The FAA grounded New Glenn after it failed to put its payload into orbit.
- Blue Origin Blue Origin can now make more concrete plans for New Glenn's next flight after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared the rocket for launch.
- Back in April, the company successfully reused its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time for New Glenn's third mission (NG-3).
The FAA grounded New Glenn after it failed to put its payload into orbit.
Blue Origin Blue Origin can now make more concrete plans for New Glenn's next flight after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared the rocket for launch. If you'll recall, the FAA grounded New Glenn after failing to properly put its payload in orbit during its third mission. Now, in a post on X, the aerospace company announced that the agency approved its report for the flight and accepted the corrective measures it implemented. "NG-4 preparations continue — updates coming soon," Blue Origin wrote, talking about the rocket's next flight.
Back in April, the company successfully reused its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time for New Glenn's third mission (NG-3). Everything seemed to be going well until it was time to put the AST SpaceMobile satellite the vehicle was carrying into orbit. Blue Origin announced at the time that the vehicle placed the satellite "into an off-nominal orbit." AST SpaceMobile revealed later on that its satellite separated from the vehicle, but its "altitude [was] too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited."