Author: Anchee Kuter
Date: Apr 08, 2025
E-mail: ancheeon@gmail.com
Image courtesy of SpaceNews, April 1, 2025 (source).
On January 16, 2025, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket (GN-1 mission) soared to orbit but failed in its first-stage booster recovery. While most of the world was left to speculate, I conducted a precise and timely structural analysis — later validated by the official investigation — identifying the root cause well before details were made public.
I share this account here as both a demonstration of my analytical methodology and an invitation for deeper collaboration within the aerospace community.
1. Context: The GN-1 Anomaly
“We weren’t able to get everything right to the engine from the tanks.”
That was the only public clue.
No deeper breakdown or data emerged from Blue Origin at that time.
SpaceNews. Blue Origin planning second New Glenn launch for late spring. April 1, 2025.
SpaceNews. Blue Origin planning second New Glenn launch for late spring. April 1, 2025.
2. My Early Independent Identification
Shortly thereafter, I independently conducted a structural analysis based purely on fundamental aerospace systems logic. My analysis highlighted three potential factors. Of these, I can publicly disclose one: