Blue Origin's New Glenn Mission Experiences Second Stage Anomaly

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:21:00 +0200

Blue Origin's latest New Glenn rocket mission, the third flight of the heavy-lift launcher in its 7x2 configuration, has encountered a significant setback related to the performance of its second stage. While the payload, the BlueBird Block-2 FM2 satellite, successfully reached orbit, the overall mission was marred by the apparent underperformance of the upper stage. This incident occurs shortly after a similar problem with a previous New Glenn launch, raising concerns about the reliability of the second stage design. Despite the disappointing outcome, Blue Origin maintains a considerable lead over SpaceX in the development of reusable, heavy-lift rockets, with New Glenn's design considered relatively mature compared to SpaceX's continuously evolving Starship program. The company possesses a substantial payload capacity, capable of delivering 45 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO), significantly more than the 6.1 tons carried by the BlueBird satellite. Blue Origin's success in refining its r