2026年4月19日 / 美国东部时间下午3:30 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
据官员透露，蓝色起源公司于周日发射了该公司第三枚新格伦火箭，复用并成功回收了一枚此前使用过的一级助推器。但火箭二级将搭载的直接面向手机的通信卫星送入了无法使用的轨道。
总部位于德克萨斯州米德兰的AST空间移动公司（AST SpaceMobile）是BlueBird 7卫星的制造商，该公司在一份声明中表示，这颗蜂窝中继卫星的机载推进系统无法弥补低于计划的轨道高度带来的偏差。
“在新格伦3号任务期间，BlueBird 7被运载火箭的上级送入了低于计划的轨道，”该公司表示。“虽然卫星已与运载火箭分离并开机，但轨道高度过低，无法依靠其机载推进器技术维持运行，卫星将脱离轨道坠毁。”
该卫星的造价未对外披露，但公司表示卫星已全额投保。
周日发射的新格伦火箭是蓝色起源的第三枚，也是首次使用复用一级助推器的新格伦火箭。该公司由亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯所有。
发射从卡纳维拉尔角太空部队基地升空的时间为美国东部时间早上7点25分，比倒计时中一次不明原因的推迟晚了40分钟。当倒计时最终归零后，这枚巨型火箭的七台甲烷燃料BE-4发动机发出震耳欲聋的轰鸣，在380万磅推力的推动下拔地而起。
一级助推器看起来运行完美，在升空约3分9秒后按计划关机并分离。随后，由两台BE-3发动机提供动力的火箭二级点火，继续爬升进入初始轨道。
与此同时，一级助推器飞向位于大西洋下靶区数百英里外的蓝色起源着陆驳船，并在发射后约9分20秒精准着陆。
这台助推器去年11月在新格伦第二次飞行任务NG-2中也曾完成相同壮举，不过当时使用的是另一组发动机。
“在我们首次复用助推器时，我们选择更换全部七台发动机，并测试了包括一台发动机喷口热防护系统在内的几项升级，”蓝色起源首席执行官戴夫·林普在早前的社交媒体帖子中说道。“我们计划在未来的飞行任务中使用NG-2任务中飞过的这些发动机。”
周日发射后约两分半钟，二级发动机按计划关机。原计划在发射后1小时10分钟进行第二次上级发动机点火，但该时间点已过，蓝色起源却未发布任何更新消息。
然而大约一小时后，该公司通报卫星未被送入预定轨道。该帖子未说明第二次上级发动机点火是否实际进行，若已点火，是否完成了全时长运转。
“我们已确认载荷分离，”蓝色起源在X平台上发帖称。“AST空间移动公司已确认卫星已开机。载荷被送入了非标称轨道。我们目前正在评估情况，一旦获得更详细的信息将及时更新。”
BlueBird 7卫星配备了一块2400平方英尺的相控阵天线，是迄今为止送入近地轨道的最大同类民用天线。
该卫星是AST空间移动公司新一代数据中继站的第二颗，旨在为全球任何地点的手机用户无缝提供天基4G和5G蜂窝宽带服务。
该公司计划在初始星座中部署最多60颗此类“第二代”BlueBird卫星，将通过太空探索技术公司的猎鹰9火箭、印度LVM3助推器和蓝色起源的新格伦火箭进行发射。
尽管周日遭遇事故，AST空间移动公司表示，“在多家发射服务商的支持下，我们仍预计2026年期间平均每1至2个月进行一次轨道发射，并目标在2026年底前将约45颗卫星送入轨道。”
蓝色起源计划与太空探索技术公司正面竞争，为商业、军事和科学卫星提供近地轨道和深空发射服务，同时部署一批亚马逊旗下的天基低轨互联网卫星，以与太空探索技术公司已投入运营的星链系统展开竞争。
蓝色起源还在开发月球着陆器，用于为NASA向月球表面运送货物和宇航员。
新格伦火箭对上述所有项目都至关重要。该公司暂定计划在今年夏末或初秋进行一次无人试飞，搭载原型Blue Moon着陆器，随后在年底前进行一次乃至两次亚马逊低轨互联网卫星发射任务。
但这些计划将取决于针对周日事故的调查结果。
In its third flight, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket puts satellite payload into wrong orbit
April 19, 2026 / 3:30 PM EDT / CBS News
By Blue Origin launched the company’s third New Glenn rocket Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket’s second stage put the payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, in an unusable orbit, officials said.
AST SpaceMobile of Midland, Texas, builder of the BlueBird 7 satellite, said in a statement the cellular relay station’s on-board propulsion system could not compensate for the lower-than-planned altitude.
Spectators along the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, enjoy a spectacular Sunday morning launch, taking in the view of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket blasting off carrying a next-generation cellular broadband satellite. The company said later the AST SpaceMobile Bluebird 7 satellite ended up in the wrong orbit. Adam Bernstein/Spaceflightnow.com
“During the New Glenn 3 mission, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle,” the company said. “While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited.”
The cost of the satellite was not revealed, but the company said it was fully insured.
The New Glenn launched Sunday was Blue Origin’s third and the first using a previously flown first stage. The company is owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos.
Liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came at 7:25 a.m. ET, 40 minutes after an unexplained hold in the countdown. When the count finally hit zero, the towering rocket’s seven methane-burning BE-4 engines ignited with a ground shaking roar and the booster began climbing away atop 3.8 million pounds of thrust.
Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, posted video showing the New Glenn first stage, flying for the second time, making an on-target touchdown on a company landing barge stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Blue Origin
The first stage appeared to work flawlessly, shutting down and falling away as planned about three minutes and nine seconds after liftoff. The rocket’s second stage, powered by two BE-3 engines, then ignited to continue the climb to an initial orbit.
The first stage, meanwhile, headed for a Blue Origin’s landing barge stationed several hundred miles down range in the Atlantic Ocean, flying itself to an on-target touchdown about nine minutes and 20 seconds after launch.
The same stage accomplished the same feat last November during the second flight of a New Glenn — NG-2 — albeit using a different set of engines.
“With our first refurbished booster we elected to replace all seven engines and test out a few upgrades including a thermal protection system on one of the engine nozzles,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in an earlier social media post. “We plan to use the engines we flew for NG-2 on future flights.”
About two-and-a-half minutes after the first stage landing Sunday, the second stage engines shut down as planned. A second upper stage engine firing was expected an hour and 10 minutes after launch, but that time came and went without any updates from Blue Origin.
About an hour later, however, the company reported the satellite had not been released into its intended orbit. The post did not say whether the second upper stage engine firing actually took place or if it did, whether it ran for the full duration.
“We have confirmed payload separation,” Blue Origin posted on X. “AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information.”
The BlueBird 7 satellite was equipped with a 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna, the largest civilian antenna of its type ever put in low-Earth orbit.
The satellite is the second in a new generation of AST SpaceMobile data relay stations designed to seamlessly provide space-based 4G and 5G cellular broadband service directly to cell phone users anywhere in the world.
An artist’s impression of AST SpaceMobile Bluebird satellites in orbit around Earth, providing cellular broadband connectivity to users around the world. AST SpaceMobile
The company plans to deploy up to 60 such “block two” BlueBirds in an initial constellation, launching them with SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, Indian LVM3 boosters and Blue Origin’s New Glenn.
Despite the mishap Sunday, AST SpaceMobile said it “continues to expect an orbital launch every one to two months on average during 2026, supported by agreements with multiple launch providers, and it continues to target approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026.”
Blue Origin plans to compete head-to-head with SpaceX to deliver commercial, military and science satellites to Earth orbit and deep space while deploying a fleet of Amazon-owned space-based LEO internet satellites intended to compete with SpaceX’s already-established Starlink system.
Blur Origin also is developing moon landers to deliver NASA cargo and astronauts to the lunar surface.
The New Glenn rocket is critical to all of those ventures. The company tentatively plans to launch a prototype Blue Moon lander on an unpiloted test flight late this summer or early fall, followed by one and possibly two launches of Amazon LEO internet satellites before the end of the year.
But those plans will depend on the results of an investigation into what went wrong Sunday.
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