Blue Origin has announced its third mission using the New Glenn rocket. As part of this mission, the company plans to reuse the first stage that has already flown into space.
The New Glenn rocket is a heavy-lift launch vehicle with a reusable first stage. Its design was first announced in 2015, with the rocket expected to begin flying in 2020. However, due to a number of technical problems and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, its first flight did not actually take place until January 2025. The rocket successfully reached orbit, but Blue Origin engineers were unable to land its stage on the first attempt.
The second launch of New Glenn took place in November 2025. This time, everything was successful, and Blue Origin became the second company in history to land a rocket stage.
Now the company is preparing to take the next important step and reuse this stage again. According to a statement published on January 22 on the Blue Origin website, this will happen during the next New Glenn mission. As part of this mission, the rocket will launch AST SpaceMobile’s six-ton Block 2 BlueBird communications satellite into space. Its key feature is deployable antennas with an area of approximately 220 m², which make the devices in this series the largest commercial satellites in low orbit.
At present, New Glenn’s third flight is scheduled for late February 2026. Obviously, Blue Origin wants to perfect the reusability technology as soon as possible and establish regular New Glenn flights. This is key to realizing the company’s highly ambitious plans, which include participation in the Artemis program and the deployment of satellite megaconstellations, such as the recently announced TeraWave project.
Earlier, we reported on Blue Origin’s plans to create a more powerful version of New Glenn.
