Blue Origin launches New Glenn NG-3 with BlueBird 7, but AST says the satellite is in a lower-than-planned orbit

Blue Origin launched its third New Glenn mission, NG-3, on April 19 from Cape Canaveral, carrying AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite.

Blue Origin had said the mission would send BlueBird 7 to low Earth orbit. The company’s mission page also identified NG-3 as the third New Glenn flight and said it would use previously flown hardware for the first time.

After the launch, AST SpaceMobile said BlueBird 7 was inserted into a lower-than-planned orbit. That post-launch update changed the tone of the mission from a planned deployment to one with an off-nominal orbit outcome.

Blue Origin had targeted the launch for Sunday, April 19, and early coverage on launch day reported that New Glenn lifted off on schedule. The key unresolved question now is whether BlueBird 7 can still reach its intended operational orbit.

Neither company in the materials reviewed provided a full technical explanation for the orbit discrepancy.