After suffering an embarrassing setback with the third launch of the New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin is hoping to get back on track with its partially reusable vehicle. Blue Origin completed an investigation into the anomaly that caused New Glenn to place its payload in a lower orbit than planned. During the flight on April 19, the rocket’s second stage suffered a malfunction prior to its engine burn and one of the engines failed to achieve enough thrust to reach its target orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the company’s report on the NG-3 mission, and cleared New Glenn for liftoff, Blue Origin announced. New Glenn had been grounded since its failed delivery, putting the rocket’s busy launch schedule at risk. Third time was not the charm For its third mission, New Glenn used the same booster that launched NASA’s twin ESCAPADE Mars probes on November 13, 2025. Blue Origin refurbished the booster, named “Never Tell Me The Odds,” for the first re-flight of a New Glenn first stage as a mark of the rocket’s reusability.
Shortly after launch, the booster touched down on a landing platform called Jacklyn in the Atlantic Ocean. The successful touchdown marked a huge achievement for the company, with the rocket’s reusability being a key factor to ramping up its launch cadence.
