Blue Origin's third New Glenn launch faces key reuse test in rivalry with SpaceX

By Akash Sriram

April 16 (Reuters) - Blue Origin is set to launch its third New Glenn mission on Friday, carrying AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite to ‌low-Earth orbit in a flight that marks a pivotal step for the Jeff ‌Bezos-led company's ambitions.

The mission is critical in proving New Glenn, a 29-story heavy-lift rocket, can compete with Elon ​Musk's SpaceX, by demonstrating reliable booster reuse, a capability that has underpinned Falcon 9's dominance.

"The successful flight of New Glenn-3 would end SpaceX's nine-year monopoly on orbital launch vehicle reusability, marking a historic shift toward a competitive, multi-player market," said Micah Walter-Range, president of space consulting ‌firm Caelus Partners.

The mission is scheduled ⁠for a launch window between 6:45 a.m. and 12:19 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Following a series of delays earlier this month, the ⁠mission comes amid a surge of activity in the space sector, including a successful NASA Artemis II lunar flyby.

The rocket's booster, "Never Tell Me the Odds," previously flew on the NG-2 mission ​in November ​and was recovered, setting up this week's milestone ​attempt. The name is a nod ‌to Han Solo's line in 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.'

A successful landing would also signal Blue Origin is narrowing a gap with SpaceX, which has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion.

Blue Origin said in November it would build a bigger, more powerful variant of its New Glenn rocket.

KEY PAYLOAD

New Glenn is designed for ‌the higher end of the commercial launch market. ​Its seven-meter payload fairing allows it to carry bulkier ​payloads, including multiple satellites in a ​single mission.

On NG-3, the rocket will carry AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7, the ‌second satellite in its next-generation Block 2 ​constellation.

The satellite features what ​the company describes as the largest commercial communications array deployed in low-Earth orbit.

Designed to connect directly with smartphones, the satellite is part of an effort to ​build a space-based cellular broadband ‌network, similar to Amazon's Leo or SpaceX's Starlink.

AST SpaceMobile is targeting a constellation ​of 45 to 60 such satellites by the end of 2026.

(Reporting by Akash ​Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)