Blue Origin reuses New Glenn rocket for first time, but satellite reaches wrong orbit

Blue Origin has successfully reused a New Glenn rocket booster for the first time, achieving a key milestone for Jeff Bezos' space company as it seeks to compete with SpaceX in the reusable launch market. However, the mission's success was tempered by an issue with the rocket's upper stage that placed its satellite payload into an incorrect orbit. The New Glenn booster, flying on its third overall mission and second commercial flight, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and was recovered on a drone ship approximately 10 minutes later. This marked the first re-flight of a New Glenn first stage, following the booster's previous use in a November mission that delivered two NASA spacecraft toward Mars. Despite the successful booster recovery, Blue Origin confirmed that the AST SpaceMobile communications satellite carried by New Glenn reached an "off-nominal orbit." AST SpaceMobile stated the satellite was placed into a lower orbit than planned and will need to be de-orbited. The company said it is assessing what went wrong with the upper stage, which was supposed to perform a second burn about an hour after launch. Reusability is critical to New Glenn's economic viability as Blue Origin aims to challenge SpaceX's dominance in orbital launches. SpaceX's ability to repeatedly fly Falcon 9 boosters has given it a significant cost advantage in the global launch market. Blue Origin plans to use New Glenn for NASA lunar missions and to support satellite networks for both itself and Amazon. The company is preparing its first robotic moon lander for a launch attempt later this year. The New Glenn system has been in development for over a decade, with its first flight occurring just over a year ago. The launch issue could affect Blue Origin's near-term plans, as the company has an agreement with AST SpaceMobile to launch multiple satellites over the coming years to build out a space-based cellular broadband network.