Following a thorough investigation into the failed booster landing during its inaugural flight, Blue Origin has announced that its next New Glenn launch is scheduled for as early as late spring. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 31st accepted the findings of the investigation, which was conducted by Blue Origin itself, into the January 16th launch. While the upper stage successfully reached orbit, the first stage failed to land due to engine re-ignition problems.
“The final mishap report identified the proximate cause of the mishap as an inability of New Glenn’s first stage to restart the engines, preventing a reentry burn from occurring, and resulting in the loss of the stage,” the FAA stated. The report detailed seven corrective actions implemented by Blue Origin, focusing on propellant management and engine bleed control improvements, although specifics were not disclosed.
“Our ambitious attempt to land the booster, ‘So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,’ was unsuccessful due to our three BE-4 engines not re-igniting properly,” Blue Origin acknowledged in a social media post. “The report identified seven corrective actions, focusing on propellant management and engine bleed control improvements, which we’re already addressing.”
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, speaking at the Commercial Space Conference on February 12th, had already indicated a late spring launch target. He hinted at propellant delivery issues as a contributing factor to the booster loss, but withheld details pending the investigation's completion. “We’re confident that the propellant and bleed control work we’re doing will increase our chances of landing the booster on our next flight,” Limp stated in a recent social media post. “And like we’ve said all along, we’ll keep trying until we do.”
The FAA also concluded its investigation into the loss of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. “The final mishap report cites the probable root cause for the loss of the Starship vehicle was stronger than anticipated vibrations during flight led to increased stress on, and failure of, the hardware in the propulsion system,” the FAA reported. Despite the ongoing investigation, SpaceX was permitted to proceed with further Starship tests. However, another Starship upper stage was lost during a subsequent flight, with investigations still ongoing.