Blue Origin Targets Second New Glenn Launch in Late Spring After Booster Landing Failure

Investigating the Booster Landing Failure

Speaking at the 27th Annual Commercial Space Conference on Feb. 12, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp suggested that a propulsion issue prevented the New Glenn booster from successfully landing after its Jan. 16 NG-1 mission.

“We had most of the right conditions in the engine but weren’t able to get everything right to the engine from the tanks,” Limp explained. “We think we understand what the issues are.”

Telemetry from the booster was lost approximately 7 minutes and 55 seconds after launch, just as three of its seven BE-4 engines attempted a reentry burn. Blue Origin has not disclosed exactly what happened to the booster at that point, and Limp declined to provide further details, citing an ongoing investigation. However, he noted that the in-flight relight of the BE-4 engines was a critical aspect of the mission that had not been previously tested.

“This was our first attempt at it,” he said. “I don’t want to go into too much detail because we’re still going through the anomaly investigation. I feel like the team has a really good handle on it, and modifications are not complicated.”

Despite the setback, Blue Origin remains on track for another launch attempt within the next few months. A second booster is already in production, and Limp does not expect the investigation to significantly delay the next flight.

Payload Uncertainty for Second Launch

Blue Origin has yet to announce the payload for the second New Glenn mission, with Limp stating that the company is considering multiple options.

“We sort of treat the first three flights as development flights,” he explained. “If we can get commercial payloads on them, we will do so. If it came to it and we just had to fly a mass simulator, we’ll fly a mass simulator.”

Blue Moon Lunar Lander and Future Mars Prospects

While Limp did not provide details on missions beyond the second New Glenn launch, he hinted that one upcoming flight would carry the Mark 1 version of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander. The robotic lander will serve as a technology demonstrator for the larger, crewed Blue Moon Mark 2 lander, which the company is developing for NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program.

“I’m still very confident that we can get on the moon this year,” Limp said, noting that the Mark 1 lander, capable of carrying three metric tons of cargo, would be the largest spacecraft yet to land on the lunar surface.

With the shift in U.S. space policy under the Trump administration toward Mars exploration, Limp emphasized that lunar missions remain a crucial stepping stone. “I think the last thing that we want is another Sputnik moment where another nation-state puts boots on the moon before we do,” he warned.

However, he argued that much of the technology being developed for lunar exploration—such as propulsion systems, in-space refueling, and orbital tugs—can be adapted for Mars missions. “It turns out that those systems, and the concepts of operations for those systems, are very reusable for a Mars mission.”

Blue Origin was among the companies selected by NASA last year to develop concept studies for a revised Mars Sample Return (MSR) architecture, leveraging its expertise in lunar lander development. NASA recently announced that it would select commercial landers as one of two pathways for further study in its redesigned MSR plans.

Limp described Blue Origin’s approach as modular, comparing it to LEGO bricks that can be reassembled for different mission architectures. “You can rearchitect them, put them together, and it turns out that a manned mission to Mars or a cargo mission to Mars reuses the vast majority of these,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that sending humans to Mars will require additional technological advancements, particularly in life support systems, which he described as “probably more difficult problems to solve.”

By Azhar