On April 20, 2026, AST SpaceMobile confirmed the total loss of its BlueBird 7 satellite after a launch anomaly on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. The mission, designated NG-3, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, April 19, at 7:45 a.m. EDT. While the flight achieved a major milestone for Blue Origin with the first successful reuse and recovery of a New Glenn first-stage booster, a malfunction in the rocket’s upper stage prevented the payload from reaching its intended operational orbit.
Technical telemetry released by Blue Origin indicates that the New Glenn first-stage booster, nicknamed "Never Tell Me The Odds," performed nominally during its second flight. The booster, which previously flew in November 2025, successfully separated and executed a vertical landing on the droneship "Jacklyn" in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the second stage, powered by two BE-3U liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engines, encountered a critical issue during its operation. Reports from the mission control team suggest the engines failed to complete a planned relight sequence or underperformed during the final burn. This resulted in BlueBird 7 being deployed into a highly elliptical orbit of 154 by 494 kilometers, significantly failing to reach the intended circular orbit of approximately 460 kilometers.
AST SpaceMobile engineer Loren Reed confirmed that the satellite’s onboard propulsion system is insufficient to raise the craft to the necessary altitude for sustained operations. Consequently, the company has declared the satellite a total loss and initiated a controlled deorbit sequence to ensure a safe reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. BlueBird 7 was the second of the company’s "Block 2" satellites, featuring a massive 2,400-square-foot phased-array antenna designed for direct-to-smartphone 5G connectivity. The satellite was intended to be a cornerstone of the company’s commercial service rollout planned for later this year.
In an official statement, AST SpaceMobile Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan noted that the satellite is covered by a $30 million insurance policy. Despite the mission failure, the company maintained its target of having approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026. Production of subsequent units remains on schedule at the company’s Midland, Texas, facility. BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 are expected to be ready for shipment within the next 30 days, as the company leverages agreements with multiple launch providers to maintain its deployment cadence.
Blue Origin has launched a formal investigation into the second-stage failure, which follows a previous upper-stage issue during the inaugural NG-1 flight in January 2025. This was the third flight of the New Glenn vehicle and its first commercial payload mission. Following the confirmation of the mission failure on Monday, shares of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) fell more than 15 percent, closing at $72.99. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to oversee the mishap investigation before Blue Origin can proceed with its next scheduled launch, NG-4.