Blue Origin has achieved the milestone of reusing one of its New Glenn rockets for the very first time, a significant accomplishment for the heavy-launch platform as Jeff Bezos’ aerospace venture seeks to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

However, the overall success of the mission could be in doubt. Approximately two hours post-launch, Blue Origin announced that the communications satellite carried by New Glenn for AST SpaceMobile was placed in an “off-nominal orbit,” suggesting that an issue may have occurred with the upper stage of the rocket. In simpler terms, it appears the target was not hit.

“We have verified payload separation. AST SpaceMobile has confirmed that the satellite has powered on,” the company posted on X. “We are currently evaluating the situation and will provide updates when we have more specific details.”

AST later indicated that Blue Origin’s rocket had positioned its satellite in an orbit that was “lower than intended,” necessitating the satellite’s de-orbiting.

A timeline shared by Blue Origin ahead of the launch indicated that the upper stage of New Glenn was expected to execute a second burn about an hour following liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It remains unclear whether this second burn occurred or if other complications arose prior to the deployment of the AST satellite.

The company achieved the reusability milestone on Sunday during the third official launch of New Glenn, just over a year after its inaugural flight, which has been under development for over a decade.

Making New Glenn capable of reuse is vital for its financial feasibility. SpaceX’s ability to reuse Falcon 9 rocket boosters is a key factor in its dominance of the global orbital launch arena.

Though Blue Origin has previously delivered a commercial payload to orbit with New Glenn — this was the second such endeavor — the company aims to employ the rocket for NASA lunar expeditions and to assist both it and Amazon in establishing space-based satellite systems. Blue Origin is in the process of finalizing its first robotic lunar lander for a planned launch later this year.

The booster that Blue Origin re-flew on Sunday was the same one utilized in the second New Glenn launch in November. That mission involved the New Glenn booster facilitating the launch of two robotic NASA spacecraft towards Mars, before returning to a drone ship in the ocean. On Sunday, Blue Origin successfully recovered the booster a second time aboard a drone ship roughly 10 minutes following takeoff.

Any challenges in deploying AST’s satellite might jeopardize Blue Origin’s near-term intentions for New Glenn. Blue Origin has an agreement with the communications firm to launch multiple satellites into orbit over the coming years as it endeavors to establish its own space-based cellular broadband network.

This article has been updated with fresh information from Blue Origin and AST SpaceMobile.