LOS ANGELES, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an investigation into a mishap involving Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket following its launch on Sunday, with the company leading the probe under FAA oversight.
"Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with FAA oversight to learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said Monday.
During the third launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy-lift rocket Sunday, the company successfully reused a booster for the first time and landed it again on a drone ship in the ocean.
However, the rocket's upper stage failed to place the BlueBird 7 satellite, operated by AST SpaceMobile, into its planned orbit.
Limp said early data suggest that during the second burn of the rocket's upper stage, one of the BE-3U engines did not produce sufficient thrust to reach the target orbit.
"The FAA is aware that Blue Origin New Glenn 3 experienced a mishap during the second-stage flight sequence following a successful launch," according to a FAA statement obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
"The FAA notified NASA, the NTSB, and the U.S. Space Force about the classification of the incident," the statement said. ■
