Blue Origin has announced that its next New Glenn rocket launch will reuse a booster from a recent mission, marking a rapid turnaround in orbital rocket reuse. The NG-3 mission, set for no earlier than late February, will deploy a communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile from Cape Canaveral. This follows the successful NG-2 flight in November and highlights the company's progress toward faster launch cadences.
Blue Origin confirmed on Thursday that the third flight of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, known as NG-3, will carry the next-generation Block 2 BlueBird satellite into low-Earth orbit for AST SpaceMobile. The launch is scheduled no earlier than late February from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This mission builds on the success of the NG-2 launch on November 13, 2025, which included the landing of the first-stage booster named 'Never Tell Me The Odds.' The company stated, “The mission follows the successful NG-2 mission, which included the landing of the ‘Never Tell Me The Odds’ booster. The same booster is being refurbished to power NG-3.” If achieved, this would represent a turnaround time of less than four months for the booster's refurbishment and relaunch—impressive for the third overall flight of the New Glenn fleet.
For context, SpaceX's first successful reuse of a Falcon 9 booster took nearly 11 months, from its landing in April 2016 to relaunch in March 2017. Blue Origin's quicker pace draws from experience with its suborbital New Shepard rocket and industry lessons, including SpaceX's Falcon 9 program.
Originally, Blue Origin planned to launch its MK1 lunar lander on the NG-3 mission. However, the company pivoted to this commercial satellite deployment as the lunar vehicle undergoes further preparation. On Wednesday, Blue Origin announced the completion of MK1's integration and its transport by barge to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for vacuum chamber testing. The lander is targeted for launch later this spring or, more likely, sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is among companies planning low-Earth orbit satellite networks to deliver high-speed internet globally, with this launch supporting such connectivity efforts through AST SpaceMobile's satellite.
