FAA clears – After grounding New Glenn following an NG-3 failure to place its payload into the intended orbit, the FAA has now cleared the rocket for its next flight. Blue Origin says the agency accepted its corrective measures and approved its report, with preparations fo
The pause came after the payload didn’t make it to orbit—then it lasted long enough to force plans to slow down. Now Blue Origin says the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared New Glenn to launch again, allowing the company to move from investigation mode back into mission preparation.
In a post on X, Blue Origin said the FAA approved its report for the next flight and accepted the corrective measures the company implemented. “NG-4 preparations continue — updates coming soon,” the aerospace company wrote.
The FAA had grounded New Glenn after the rocket’s third mission. NG-3. failed to put its payload into orbit properly. During NG-3, Blue Origin reused its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time. The moment that still haunts the timeline came when it was time to deploy the mission’s payload: the AST SpaceMobile satellite.
Blue Origin said at the time that the vehicle placed the satellite “into an off-nominal orbit.” AST SpaceMobile later revealed that its satellite separated from the vehicle, but its “altitude [was] too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited.”
The FAA called the incident a “mishap” and opened an investigation meant to determine the root cause and identify corrective actions. Not long after the event. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said early data pointed to what went wrong during the rocket’s upper-stage work: on the second burn. one of its BE-3U engines didn’t produce sufficient thrust to reach the target orbit.
Blue Origin’s new post echoes that sequence. “Prior to our second GS2 burn, we experienced an off-nominal thermal condition, and, as a result, one of the BE-3U engines didn’t achieve full thrust to reach our target orbit,” the company wrote.
The FAA’s final report, shared in a statement sent to SpaceNews, identified a different physical starting point for the failure. It said the direct cause of the mishap was “a cryogenic leak that froze a hydraulic line and led to a thrust anomaly during the second-stage engine burn.”
Blue Origin says it has taken nine corrective actions since identifying the issue to help ensure the incident doesn’t happen again. The company hasn’t announced a launch timeline for NG-4 yet.
Limp did. however. post a video on May 22. 2026. showing New Glenn’s transporter erector and signaling that work is moving forward. In his post, he wrote: “Fun video showcasing ‘No, It’s Necessary’ lifting on the Transporter Erector. Next stop integrated hotfire. ‘Never Tell Me The Odds’ is in the house. too (well into it’s refurb cycle) pic.twitter.com/HnQO31inoq.” Blue Origin also said it is preparing for integrated hotfire testing. which appears tied to the coming mission.
The FAA’s clearance doesn’t erase what happened on NG-3, but it does change what comes next. With the agency accepted report and corrective measures in hand. Blue Origin can now build a schedule again—this time backed by an investigation’s findings and a plan designed to prevent the cryogenic leak. frozen hydraulic line. and second-stage thrust anomaly from repeating.
Blue Origin New Glenn FAA NG-4 NG-3 AST SpaceMobile BE-3U GS2 burn cryogenic leak integrated hotfire testing transporter erector