The U.S. aviation regulator has ordered billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin to ground its New Glenn rocket pending an investigation into a malfunction that prevented the proper deployment of a communications satellite during a launch from Florida on Sunday (19 April).
Under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directive, Blue Origin must complete a mishap inquiry and obtain the agency’s approval of the final report and any corrective actions before it can resume flying the rocket.
New Glenn’s failure to launch the satellite into high enough orbit is a setback to Bezos’s firm's quest to compete with SpaceX, the world’s leading rocket launch service ran by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, wrote on X, on Monday that early data suggested one of the two BE-3U engines that power the rocket’s upper stage “didn’t produce sufficient thrust” to allow the satellite to reach the target orbit.
"Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with FAA oversight to learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations," he added.
The BlueBird 7 satellite, designed by Texas firm AST, was part of AST’s effort to build a space-based cellular broadband network, similar to SpaceX’s Starlink.
The ill-fated satellite re-entered the atmosphere on Monday, presumably burning up harmless over the earth, according to Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space objects for the American Astronomical Society.
New Glenn’s reusable lower-stage rocket booster blasted off successfully from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning at around 7:25 a.m. ET (1125 GMT) and touched down around 10 minutes later.
Blue Origin, founded by Bezos in 2000, was until recent years known mainly for flying celebrities and other wealthy passengers to the edge of space and back in its New Shepard rocketship.
The company announced in January, however, that it was halting its space tourism business for at least two years to focus more on commercial launch services and building a moon lander for NASA.
Sunday's mission was a key test of the 29-storey New Glenn rocket, in its bid to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The mission comes amid a surge of activity in the space sector.
Earlier in April, NASA’s Artemis II mission made history with a lunar flyby that took the astronauts further from earth than ever before.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is building a special version of its Starship designed to land astronauts on the moon, as part of NASA’s Artemis programme.
The developments come amid a U.S. space race with China to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
Beijing, which plans to land its first crewed mission on the moon by 2030, is considered to currently be ahead in the contest.
China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, has met Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, in Islamabad to di...
British police are facing a national backlash over their handling of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed while d...
International organisations, investors, environmental experts and business representatives gathered in Samarkand for the opening of Eco Expo Central A...
China is sending doctors, medical teams and emergency supplies to help combat a growing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, joining an international eff...
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said Yerevan remains committed to normalising relations with Azerbaijan and Türkiye, expressing confidenc...
China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, has met Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, in Islamabad to discuss the China-facilitated Urumqi Process and regional security concerns.
British police are facing a national backlash over their handling of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed while dying from stab wounds after his attacker falsely claimed to be the victim of a racist assault.
International organisations, investors, environmental experts and business representatives gathered in Samarkand for the opening of Eco Expo Central Asia 2026, one of the region's largest environmental events focused on green growth, climate resilience and sustainable development.
China is sending doctors, medical teams and emergency supplies to help combat a growing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, joining an international effort to contain the disease before it spreads further.
Okinawa lost transport links and suffered widespread power outages on Monday (1 June) as Severe Tropical Storm Jangmi brought destructive winds and heavy rain to Japan's south-western islands.
Competing narratives continue to shape perceptions of the war in Ukraine, with Russian leadership suggesting a possible end phase while Ukrainian officials warn of renewed large-scale attacks and ongoing escalation risks.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held talks with Lebanese President and Israeli Prime Minister on efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Lebanon. According to a U.S. official, Washington has proposed a plan aimed at achieving a gradual de-escalation of hostilities.
When Armenians vote on 7 June, they will be voting in an election shaped by months of political change and a rapidly deepening relationship with the European Union. The result may not only determine who governs Armenia but also the future direction of the country's geopolitical alignment.
Unsealed records from the U.S. Department of Justice have renewed scrutiny of lawyer Robert Amsterdam after documents revealed communications between his law firm and Jeffrey Epstein's office. The disclosures have drawn attention because of Amsterdam's prominent role in Armenia.
China will send an astronaut to its space station on Sunday for a one-year mission, the longest duration for the country so far. The mission will help study long-duration human physiology in space as China works toward a crewed Moon landing by 2030.
Anxiety over artificial intelligence is hardening among young workers as executives promote faster adoption and companies point to automation in fresh job cuts.
Hackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to detect software vulnerabilities, reducing the time organisations have to respond to cyber threats, Verizon said in its annual data breach report.
China has launched the world’s first experiment to study how artificial human embryos develop in space, marking a major step in understanding whether humans could one day reproduce beyond Earth.
Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada has said that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to “jump straight to the result” risks undermining the purpose of art, which he believes should be rooted in self-expression and a deeper understanding of the world.
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