Blue Origin rocket approved for flight by FAA
May 26, 2026
By Chris Forrester
Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket which failed to correctly place an AST SpaceMobile satellite into orbit, has been approved to resume flights by the Federal Aviation Administratiion (FAA) following a review of the problem.
New Glenn #3 has received corrective measures having been implemented. “Prior to our [rocket’s] second burn, we experienced an off-nominal thermal condition, and, as a result, one of the BE-3U engines didn’t achieve full thrust to reach our target orbit,” stated Blue Origin.
The company says it will update the market on the status of its next flight (NG-4) shortly.
The FAA approval came much sooner than generally expected. Some observers were talking about 3-6 months for the permission to emerge.
The FAA ordered the company to suspend work in its New Glenn rockets pending the review of the mishap on April 19th. AST’s BlueBird #7 has since been deorbited.
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