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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blue Origin’s chief executive Dave Limp said the failure was caused by a lack of “sufficient thrust” in an engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blue Origin is investigating the incident, which happened on Sunday, with oversight from the FAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for the authority said: “The FAA is requiring Blue Origin to conduct a mishap investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limp said the investigation will allow Blue Origin to “l\u200b\u200bearn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FAA will determine based on the investigation findings when New Glenn can be launched again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday’s operation was only the third flight for the New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin was planning on a dozen launches this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rocket was carrying an AST satellite intended for low earth orbit that would be used for mobile phone connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since New Glenn did not drop the satellite as far into orbit as it needed to go, it will be unusable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AST said Sunday that the loss will be covered by insurance, but did not say how much it would cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blue Origin said earlier this year it would launch thousands of such satellites<\/a> into low-earth orbit as part of a new project called TerraWave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon is also expanding in the space, having just acquired a satellite manufacturer<\/a> and operator for $11b (\u00a38.5bn) in order to build up its own project, called Leo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n