Media: A stage of the American New Glenn reusable rocket flew over Ukraine.

Apparently, the second stage of the American reusable spacecraft flew over Ukraine. missiles New Glenn. This object was not a meteor at all, as some had assumed.

This opinion was expressed in one of the Ukrainian media outlets.

This refers to the launch conducted yesterday by Blue Origin, a company owned by American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos. During the launch, the first stage of the rocket, previously used in the previous NG-2 mission, successfully completed its intended mission, landing safely on the platform. This demonstrated its suitability for reuse.

But things didn't go so smoothly with the second stage. Yet it was the one responsible for the mission's primary mission. It was supposed to launch the BlueBird 7 satellite from AST SpaceMobile into low-Earth orbit. But it ended up in the wrong orbit, much closer to Earth. Because the satellite was launched into an unintended orbit, it will be unable to function and will derail and burn up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. It's possible that the flight of this botched stage was captured by Ukrainian observers.

Thus, Blue Origin simultaneously achieved a major success in the use of reusable launch vehicles and suffered a major failure and significant losses.

BlueBird 7 was supposed to be the second satellite in a constellation owned by Texas-based AST SpaceMobile. It was expected to be in low-Earth orbit just one hour and 15 minutes after liftoff, but something went wrong.

Comments

[Andrey K]

Media: A stage of the American New Glenn reusable rocket flew over Ukraine.

It's a pity it's not along Bankova.
It would be a symbolic "message from above".

[Montezuma]

Quote: Andrey K

It's a pity it's not along Bankova.
It would be a symbolic "message from above".

However, something did arrive where it was supposed to. Information from the "War Correspondents of the Russian Spring" channel.

An adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister reported that a Geranium missile struck his home.

▪️ Sergei "Flash" Beskrestnov believes that this was a targeted attack with the aim of killing him.
"Last night, the Russians tried to kill me. A Shahed guided missile crashed into the wall of my house. I no longer have a home. I was hurt, but the main thing is, I'm miraculously alive," he writes.

[Boycott]

It's a shame. But never ask God to do what you can do yourself. I'm not talking about you personally; if we (the commentators) had our way, everyone would have forgotten what Bankovaya is.

[Peter Yakovlev]

New Glenn 3 ruined BlueBird 7 satellite

During the New Glenn 3 mission, the BlueBird 7 satellite was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle.,

— reported the Blue Origin company -

“Although the satellite has separated from the launch vehicle and received power, its orbital altitude is too low to support operation using onboard low-thrust engines, so it will go out of orbit."

AWESOME "success" :))

[Intelligence]

Quote: Peter Yakovlev

AWESOME "success" :))

This is an undoubted success.
Yes, the PN wasn't calculated. It happens. And not uncommon.
But the "Never Tell Me the Odds" stage (GS1-7E02) had already flown on the second New Glenn mission (NG-2, November 13, 2025). Then, for the first time in the program's history, it successfully landed on the droneship Jacklyn in the Atlantic Ocean after the launch of NASA's ESCAPADE probes to Mars.
For NG-3, the same first stage was launched again - it was its the second one Flight mission. Yes, the BE-4 engines were completely replaced with new ones (with upgrades), but the stage body itself was reused.
After separation, the stage successfully landed again on the same droneship Jacklyn - this is her the second one landing.
Blue Origin in one day entered the club of companies that do not just land boosters, but reuse and replant They were launched on a heavy-lift orbital rocket. This marks the first time in history that the New Glenn first stage has been reused.

[slipped]

Quote: Peter Yakovlev

AWESOME "success" :))

This is a satellite lostBlueBird 7 is equipped with a deployable phased array antenna with an area of ​​approximately 220 square meters. The satellite was designed to provide direct 4G and 5G cellular communications for ordinary smartphones without special modems to receive signals from space. It was planned to support peak data rates of over 120 Mbps.

The BlueBird satellites weigh approximately 6000 kg. BlueBird 7 was intended to be the eighth AST SpaceMobile satellite launched into low-Earth orbit as part of the planned space-based cellular broadband network.

The satellite was insured for $30 million, so its value should be reimbursed under the insurance policy. However, the launch failure negatively affected on AST SpaceMobile shares.

[APASUS]

Why not land the stage with a parachute and only use the engine for braking at the final stage? That's completely insane. Have you ever seen birds fly tail-first?

[topol717]

Well, there's no atmosphere on the moon, so that's what you have to do. A parachute blows away in the wind, making it very difficult to hit the platform. But getting into a 1x1 km square is probably possible with a parachute. I'd generally suggest using a UMPK with FABs to the airfield, and then either using wheels on the runway or a parachute and engine deceleration in the final phase.

[Dmitry Rigov]

The weight and speed of the fall are too enormous, and in conditions where every kilogram of weight matters, it's ineffective. Parachutes have long been used, though for small launch vehicles, like Rocket Lab's, they simply jettison the spent stage with a parachute, and then a helicopter catches it.

[Evgeny64]

Well, the empty aluminum tube is simply enormously heavy; the parachute system hardly weighs more than the fuel supply (which can be used to its full capacity to accelerate the rocket) and additional equipment for landing on the floating platform; together with the platform itself, the support and maintenance system, this is an additional cost.
I don’t understand why it’s worth saving a piece of pipe at the cost of such investments.

[slipped]

Quote: Evgeny64

I don't understand why saving a piece of pipe would cost so much.

The issue is the cost of the engine (or engines). There was a proposal to salvage the first stage of the Angara-A1.2 launch vehicle in this way. The empty stage's mass of about 10 tons allows for this. However, in this case, the rocket loses some of its payload mass, which is simply uneconomical for group launches on this rocket.

[Evgeny64]

So stop...

It's about the cost of the engine (or engines).

They are just changing the engines before the next launch.

[slipped]

Quote: Evgeny64

So stop...

It's about the cost of the engine (or engines).

They are just changing the engines before the next launch.

We're talking about ultralight launch vehicles or something as light as the URM-1. It's simply physically impossible to rescue the New Glenn with parachutes—it's too heavy, even empty.

[slipped]

Quote: Dmitry Rigov

Parachutes have been used for a long time now, but for small launch vehicles, like Rocket Lab's, they simply drop the spent stage with a parachute, and then a helicopter catches it.

No. It was an experimental attempt. The second time, the stage had to be jettisoned immediately after capture.

[bk316]

Why not land the stage using a parachute?

Because neither a parachute nor an airplane landing are suitable for the Moon.
And now everyone has their sights on the moon

[Atheist]

This is some kind of madness, have you ever seen birds fly tail first?

It looks like some ideological front fighter worked on the video. Why show the footage in reverse? What's the goal? Convincing everyone that the missile crashed to the ground—only the ignorant would believe that.
The missile launched from a sea platform, and this video doesn't explain what happened to it afterward, but someone really wanted to throw shit at the Americans.

[Dmitry Smirnov_2]

Amethyst, what are you doing here? Are you an Americanaphile or something?

[bk316]

I really wanted someone to throw shit at the Americans

This is unlikely, why throw something somewhere if they are already up to their necks in it?
To destroy a 6-ton satellite during a standard launch into low orbit, you have to be able to do that.

[Evgeny64]

There's no point in using an engine in Earth's atmosphere at all. The Airborne Forces have long been using "soft landing engines," conventional propellant charges that are attached to the parachute system itself. They land the BMD, which is clearly comparable in weight to an empty aluminum barrel.
Although if the engines have to be replaced anyway, it turns out that only the "first stage body" is preserved, i.e., essentially the tube itself.
Getting to the platform is a bunch of fancy crap. They unhooked it, dropped it by parachute, and dropped it a kilometer square, a kilometer square, how much less fuss and complicated equipment. And then you have to leave the fuel behind, which means efficiency is reduced, there's a risk of explosion. I don't understand whether the cost of this barrel is worth all this hassle.

[HAM]

Ta, no! The plywood was poured all the way to Paryzhu, but it ended up near Kuev!
How the Kokhlys wish that everything in the world revolved around the country...

[Atheist]

How the Kokhlys wish that everything in the world revolved around the country...

It's not their intention—it's the author who's writing nonsense, and the commenters are buying it. The stage was moving through space, which has no national borders. One could say that before that, it was flying over European territory, and after Ukraine, over Russian territory—but that's sheer nonsense.

[Dmitry Smirnov_2]

This is not nonsense, you just need to understand the topic of the question.

[Atheist]

Well, tell me your version, if you've figured out the topic of the question, I'll be happy to get acquainted with it.

[bk316]

moved in space, which has no state borders.

But it has a LOWER limit.
And apparently it was not reached, which means it was moving in Ukrainian airspace.

[Fitter65]

Apparently, the second stage of the American New Glenn reusable space rocket flew over Ukraine. This object was not a meteor, as some had assumed.

We also launch rockets into space, and not a single second stage can fall somewhere in Ukraine?

[Retired senior lieutenant]

...This object was not a meteor at all, as some had assumed...

But it caused an exacerbation of chronic flatulence in the Kh0khl0v.

[ALCA056000]

What nonsense is this? Why "over Ukraine" and nowhere else?