The Federal Aviation Administration has directed Blue Origin to launch an investigation into the apparent malfunction of the upper stage of its New Glenn rocket that occurred on Sunday, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel. Consequently, the company will not be permitted to fly New Glenn again until it finalizes the examination.

This could hinder Blue Origin’s plans to carry out as many as 12 additional New Glenn missions this year, contingent on the duration of the inquiry. The company has yet to release a statement regarding the upper stage malfunction and has not replied to emailed inquiries for comment.

The issue surfaced during the third launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn mega-rocket over the weekend. The launch commenced well, with the company reusing a New Glenn booster for the first time ever and successfully landing that booster once more on a drone ship in the ocean.

Advancements in developing and proving rocket reusability represent a significant progress for Blue Origin and may enable it to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the only other spaceflight entity capable of achieving this task, and the leading player in the launch market.

However, the primary objective was to send a communications satellite into orbit for a paying client: AST SpaceMobile. Although the New Glenn rocket’s second stage successfully detached from the booster, something seemingly went awry shortly afterward. AST SpaceMobile stated on Sunday that the rocket positioned the satellite in a “lower than planned” orbit — so much so that the company deems the satellite a lost cause and will allow it to disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere.

AST SpaceMobile mentioned it possesses insurance that will cover the loss of the satellite. The company also indicated that it has several new satellites almost finished that it anticipates will be ready for launch imminently. Additionally, the company has agreements with other launch providers. AST SpaceMobile’s stock price dropped by over 10% on Monday morning before experiencing a slight rebound.

Regarding Blue Origin, the upper stage incident poses risks not only to potential commercial missions. The company is also developing a lunar lander and has considerable aspirations to contribute to the Trump administration and NASA’s focus on returning humans to the lunar surface.

Blue Origin is currently in the process of obtaining certification for New Glenn from the U.S. Space Force to conduct national security missions on behalf of the government. The Space Force did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.