Space
Blue Origin’s Reusable Booster Succeeds, Payload Is Lost
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 18.
Photographer: John Raoux/APBlue Origin’s flagship New Glenn rocket launched to space on its third flight, reusing a booster for the first time but failing to correctly place the satellite it was carrying into its intended orbit.
The rocket took off from the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at approximately 7:25 a.m. and its reusable first stage returned to Earth 10 minutes later, touching down on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. New Glenn was carrying a satellite built by AST SpaceMobile Inc., a Texas-based company building out a network to deliver connectivity directly to mobile phones.