Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Amazon’s efforts to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet business suffered a setback after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was forced to ground its New Glenn rocket following a failed test flight.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement on Sunday that it would require Blue Origin to stop operation of its flagship rocket and investigate why it failed to properly deploy the satellite it was carrying during a launch on Sunday.
Suspending the service could force Amazon to use Musk’s SpaceX to launch satellites for its Leo internet service, which has been touted as a competitor to Starlink.
“This puts more pressure on Amazon to trust [other] third-party providers,” said Josh Parker, senior associate at Capstone, a Washington-based consulting firm.
He added that an investigation could take “several months” before U.S. regulators clear New Glenn to fly. The rocket is critical to Leo’s success, as it can carry more satellites than any other used by Amazon.
Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, said in a post on X that one of the rocket’s engines had failed to provide “sufficient thrust” for the satellite to reach the target orbit.
“Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with oversight from the FAA to learn from the data and implement the necessary improvements to quickly return to flight operations,” he said.
The 98-meter rocket, which has suffered several delays, successfully reused and landed its booster during its third launch on Sunday. But the investigation is likely to be “deeper” than similar incidents involving more established rockets, such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9, according to several analysts.
Quilty Space analyst Caleb Henry said New Glenn could be offline for at least three months. “But keep in mind that it is a new rocket, so the return to flight time may be longer.”
New Glenn launches would only resume once regulators authorize a “return to flight operations,” according to the FAA.
Amazon has about 240 satellites in orbit, but its deployment is dwarfed by the more than 10,000 active satellites operated by SpaceX.
Earlier this year, the cloud giant requested a two-year extension of the July deadline to launch 1,600 satellites into space. It had only deployed about 10 percent of the devices in February when it requested an extension.
Amazon said it had “many launches” planned, including two for next week with providers Arianespace and United Launch Alliance.
The company acknowledged that recent groundings, including that of ULA’s Vulcan heavy-lift rocket in February, had hit its schedule for satellite deployment.
Amazon has agreements in place for 13 launches with SpaceX, although the bulk of its 102 contracted launches are with Blue Origin and ULA, according to regulatory filings.
It plans to send around 700 satellites to space by the middle of this year with up to three launches per month until the FCC’s July deadline, Amazon’s head of devices and services, Panos Panay, told the Financial Times.
“Now it’s about the pitching cadence… which is where you have to put your energy,” Panay said. “It’s quite an energetic time and this constellation will fill up quickly over the next six to nine months. Magnificently fast.”
