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Amazon’s efforts to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet business suffered a setback after Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin was forced to ground its New Glenn rocket following an unsuccessful test flight.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement on Sunday that it would require Blue Origin to halt the operation of its flagship rocket and investigate why it failed to correctly deploy the satellite it was carrying during a launch on Sunday.
The grounding 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 rely on [other] third-party providers,” said Josh Parker, a senior associate at Capstone, a Washington-based consulting firm.
He added that an investigation could take “several months” before US regulators clear New Glenn to fly. The rocket is critical to Leo’s success, since it can carry more satellites than any other used by Amazon.
Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s chief executive, said in a post on X that one of the rocket’s engines had failed to provide “sufficient thrust” for the satellite to reach target orbit.
“Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with FAA oversight to learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations,” he said.
The 98-metre rocket, which has suffered several delays, successfully reused and landed its rocket booster during its third launch on Sunday. But the investigation was likely to “go deeper” than for similar incidents involving more established rockets such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9, according to multiple analysts.
Caleb Henry, an analyst at Quilty Space, said that the New Glenn could be offline for at least three months. “But bear in mind that it’s a new rocket so return to flight times can be longer.”
Launches of New Glenn would only resume once regulators authorise 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 to a July deadline to launch 1,600 satellites into space. It had only deployed about 10 per cent of the devices in February when it requested an extension.
Amazon said it had “plenty of launches” planned, including two in the coming 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 timeline for satellite deployment.
Amazon has deals in place for 13 launches with SpaceX, though the bulk of its 102 contracted launches are with Blue Origin and ULA, according to regulatory filings.
It plans to send about 700 satellites into space by the middle of this year with up to three launches a month through to its July FCC deadline, Amazon’s device and services chief Panos Panay told the FT.
“It’s now about launch cadence . . . which is where you have got to put your energy,” Panay said. “It’s a pretty energetic time and this constellation fills quickly over the next six to nine months. Magnificently fast.”
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