Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, successfully reused its New Glenn rocket on Sunday but placed AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 into an incorrect, too-low orbit, prompting a planned rapid deorbit.
AST SpaceMobile said BlueBird 7 was deployed at an altitude below what its onboard thrusters could sustain and that the company expects the satellite's cost to be recovered under its insurance policy.
Despite the payload failure, Blue Origin's first-stage booster "Never Tell Me The Odds" landed on a droneship in the Atlantic on its second flight, making New Glenn the second demonstrably reusable booster after SpaceX, according to Space.com.
The mishap comes as Blue Origin and SpaceX position as rivals for NASA lunar work, where Artemis III will test rendezvous and docking with Blue Origin's Blue Moon or SpaceX's Starship, and the crewed landing target has shifted to Artemis IV around 2028.
This article is based on reporting from Jalopnik.
Read the full article at Jalopnik.
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