Bezos rocket fell short after cryogenic leak cut engine thrust

Frozen hydraulic line blamed for leaving payload in the wrong orbit

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Blue Origin have revealed what went wrong on the third flight of New Glenn and it looks like a cryogenic leak is our culprit.

According to Blue Origin: "Prior to our second GS2 burn, we experienced an off-nominal thermal condition, and, as a result, one of the BE-3U engines didn't achieve full thrust to reach our target orbit."

The FAA's explanation was a little more detailed: "The final mishap report identified the direct cause of the mishap as a cryogenic leak that froze a hydraulic line and led to a thrust anomaly during the second stage engine burn."

The April 19 launch of the NG-3 mission started well. The first stage firing went well, and the booster made a successful landing on Blue Origin's floating landing platform, Jacklyn. However, during the second...

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