BBC:
Blue Origin’s newest rocket has been grounded after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered an investigation into a “mishap” involving the failed launch of a satellite.
The company, founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, attempted to place a satellite from AST SpaceMobile using its New Glenn rocket but was unable to get it as far into orbit as intended.
Blue Origin’s chief executive Dave Limp said the failure was caused by a lack of “sufficient thrust” in an engine.
AST SpaceMobile’s share price fell by more than 6% on Monday. Limp said: “We clearly didn’t deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects.”
Blue Origin is investigating the incident, which happened on Sunday, with oversight from the FAA.
A spokesperson for the authority said: “The FAA is requiring Blue Origin to conduct a mishap investigation.
“The FAA will oversee the Blue Origin-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process and approve Blue Origin’s final report, including any corrective actions.”
Limp said the investigation will allow Blue Origin to “learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations.”
The FAA will determine based on the investigation findings when New Glenn can be launched again.
Sunday’s operation was only the third flight for the New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin was planning on a dozen launches this year.
The rocket was carrying an AST satellite intended for low earth orbit that would be used for mobile phone connectivity.
Since New Glenn did not drop the satellite as far into orbit as it needed to go, it will be unusable.
AST said Sunday that the loss will be covered by insurance, but did not say how much it would cost.
Satellites offering consumers and companies internet access, even in typically difficult to access areas and terrains, are starting to become a more popular enterprise for tech companies.
Blue Origin said earlier this year it would launch thousands of such satellites into low-earth orbit as part of a new project called TerraWave.
Amazon is also expanding in the space, having just acquired a satellite manufacturer and operator for $11b (£8.5bn) in order to build up its own project, called Leo.
Both projects appear to be playing catch up to Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned company that already has several thousand operating satellites in orbit offering connectivity to consumers.
Starlink is a significant part of SpaceX, the Musk company that is expected to go public this year in what could be a record-breaking stock market listing.
