BlueBird 7 Satellite Does Not Reach Intended Orbit
Will be De-Orbited, Other Launches on Track
The AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite launched aboard the third Blue Origin New Glenn mission did not reach its intended orbit following launch on Sunday, and will be de-orbited by the company.
New Glenn lifted off within its launch window from Cape Canaveral, FL on Sunday morning following an approximately 40 minute hold. The ‘Don’t Tell Me the Odds mission was the first re-use of a New Glenn booster by the company. And while the launch and recovery of the booster was nominal, the payload deployment was not.
According to a news release posted to the AST SpaceMobile website, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower than planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle. While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy.
BlueBird 7 would have been AST SpaceMobile’s eighth deployed into low Earth orbit and is one of many planned for its space-based cellular broadband network. The company is currently in production through BlueBird 32, with BlueBird 8 to 10 expected to be ready to ship in approximately 30 days.
The company continues to expect an orbital launch every one to two months on average during 2026, supported by agreements with multiple launch providers, and it continues to target approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026.
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) opened down almost 6 percent in early trading Monday.