Blue Origin reuses New Glenn booster for the first time in breakthrough launch

New Glenn booster produced by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin marked a major breakthrough on Sunday by successfully reusing and recovering a booster from its heavy-lift rocket, strengthening its position in the growing space race with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The mission, however, faced a setback as the communications satellite onboard failed to reach its intended orbit, casting uncertainty over the overall success of the launch.

Third launch of the New Glenn booster

This was the third launch of the New Glenn rocket and the first to feature a reused booster. Blue Origin has previously reused components in its smaller New Shepard rocket, though those missions were less complex and suborbital.

The 98-meter-tall rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at around 7:25 a.m., carrying a communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile. After stage separation, the upper stage continued into space while the booster landed successfully on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean roughly nine and a half minutes after launch.

Blue Origin later confirmed via X that the satellite powered on but ended up in an “off-nominal orbit.” The company said it is currently assessing the situation and the potential impact.

The milestone builds on a previous success in November when Blue Origin first recovered a New Glenn booster, following a failed attempt in January 2025 due to engine relight issues.

For this mission, the booster had been refurbished with new engines and several upgrades aimed at improving performance and reliability.

Lunar ambitions intensify

The New Glenn program is central to the ambitions of Jeff Bezos, as Blue Origin competes with SpaceX in NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon by 2028, amid intensifying competition from China.