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Ars Technica Apr 19, 2026 at 18:19 Big Tech Stable Warm

Blue Origin's rocket reuse achievement marred by upper stage failure

Blue Origin's reused first stage hit its targets, but New Glenn's upper stage did not.

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By Stephen Clark Original source
Blue Origin's rocket reuse achievement marred by upper stage failure

The third flight of Blue Origin's heavy-lift New Glenn launcher began Sunday with the company's first successful reflight of an orbital-class booster, but ended with a setback for Jeff Bezos' flagship rocket, a key element in NASA's Artemis lunar program. The 321-foot-tall (98-meter) New Glenn launch vehicle ignited its seven methane-fueled BE-4 engines at 7:25 am EDT (11:25 UTC) Sunday, beginning a slow climb from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The main engines, each producing more than a half-million pounds of thrust, accelerated the rocket past the speed of sound in about a minute-and-a-half. Three minutes into the flight, the booster switched off its engines and fell away from New Glenn's upper stage, powered by two BE-3U engines burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Read full article Comments

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Apr 19, 2026 at 18:19 Ars Technica

Blue Origin's rocket reuse achievement marred by upper stage failure

Blue Origin's reused first stage hit its targets, but New Glenn's upper stage did not.

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