New Glenn Is Back in Business

Blue Origin got its green light. The FAA cleared New Glenn to fly again as of May 22, according to TechCrunch, ending a roughly one-month grounding that followed an April launch failure.

Here's what happened: New Glenn's third-ever flight suffered what Blue Origin called an "off-nominal thermal condition" in the upper stage. One of its three upper-stage engines produced lower-than-expected thrust. The AST SpaceMobile satellite on board never reached orbit and burned up in the atmosphere.

AST SpaceMobile confirmed it had insurance coverage for the lost satellite, so the financial hit was contained. But the reputational hit was real.

Blue Origin submitted a corrective measures report to the FAA. The company declined to specify what those measures were, raising transparency concerns — the public and potential customers deserve more than a vague "we fixed it."

The 12-Launch Ambition Is Now Under Pressure

Before the grounding, Blue Origin had publicly stated it planned to launch New Glenn as many as 12 times by the end of 2026, according to TechCrunch. That's an aggressive number for a rocket that has only flown three times total.

One month of downtime doesn't kill that goal outright. But it compresses the schedule significantly. Blue Origin hasn't said how many launches are still on the books or whether any payloads got pushed.

Mainstream coverage is largely glossing over the math. Twelve launches in a year from a rocket with three total flights under its belt was already an optimistic claim. After a grounding, it looks more like a PR target than an operational forecast.

Starship V3: What Actually Happened

The May 22 flight delivered 20 Starlink satellite simulators plus two modified Starlink satellites designed to film Starship's exterior, according to TechCrunch and Space.com. The Ship upper stage, running five of its six Raptor engines after losing one during ascent, completed its primary payload objectives.

The Super Heavy booster is a different story. It failed to execute its boost-back burn correctly, according to Space.com, and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX had not planned to catch it — this was a simulated ocean landing — but the booster was supposed to perform a controlled descent, not tumble into the water.

The booster didn't even manage the controlled part of the unrecovered landing.

The IPO Angle

SpaceX filed its IPO paperwork publicly this week and is expected to list on the Nasdaq in mid-June, according to TechCrunch. The offering is reportedly targeting a $75 billion raise.

That money isn't just for Starship development. TechCrunch explicitly reports it's also meant to service debt tied to xAI and Elon Musk's social media company X.

Retail investors buying into a SpaceX IPO may be partially funding a bailout of Musk's other ventures. It's a material fact that's received minimal headlines.

This also means the May 22 flight was almost certainly the last Starship test that happens without a stock market reaction. Every anomaly going forward — every booster lost, every engine out — becomes a potential share price event. That changes the pressure calculus on SpaceX's engineering culture in ways that are hard to predict and easy to underestimate.

Artemis Is Watching Both of Them

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at the Artemis II briefing that launch cadences from commercial providers will influence who gets selected for Artemis III — the actual moon landing attempt, according to Tech Times.

Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are under contract. Both just had notable failures in the same week. Neither vehicle is currently certified for crewed lunar landing missions.

Artemis II — the first human lunar flyby since 1972 — just landed, as noted by Ars Technica. The clock is now running on Artemis III. NASA needs a lander that works. The window for SpaceX or Blue Origin to prove reliability is tightening.

What This Means for Regular People

You're paying for part of this. NASA's Artemis contracts represent billions in taxpayer dollars flowing to both SpaceX and Blue Origin. If those vehicles can't hit reliable cadences, those moon missions get delayed and the bills keep coming.

On top of that, SpaceX's Starlink — the profitable engine that funds everything else — depends on Starship working reliably to deploy next-generation satellites. No reliable Starship means no advanced Starlink expansion. That affects the rural Americans who rely on Starlink for internet access right now.

Both companies made real progress this week. Neither is ready to call this mission accomplished.