Blue Origin plans to launch the first New Shepard rocket

Blue Origin plans to launch the first New Shepard rocket in over a year –

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  • Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is preparing to launch its New Shepard rocket for the first time in over a year.
  • “We are targeting a launch window for our next New Shepard payload mission that opens on December 18,” Blue Origin said.
  • The mission marks the suborbital rocket's return to flight, after a more than 14-month hiatus due to a launch failure during a cargo mission in September 2022.

A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas with a crew of six on December 11, 2021.

Joe Skipper | Portal

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is preparing to launch its New Shepard rocket for the first time in over a year, the company said Tuesday.

“We are targeting a launch window for our next New Shepard payload mission that opens on December 18.” Blue origin said in social media posts shortly after Bloomberg announced the target date.

The New Shepard launch, named NS-24, will be a cargo mission that will carry research and scientific payloads. The mission marks the suborbital rocket's return to flight, after a more than 14-month hiatus due to a launch failure during a cargo mission in September 2022.

The Federal Aviation Administration completed its investigation into the failed NS-23 mission earlier this year. The agency required Blue Origin to take corrective actions “to improve structural performance during operations and organizational changes” within the company.

The moment of anomaly during the New Shepard cargo mission NS-23, during which the booster's engine failed.

Blue origin

The New Shepard rocket launches from Blue Origin's private facility in West Texas and carries people and payloads over 100 kilometers, or more than 340,000 feet, for a few minutes in weightlessness. The capsule will be flown autonomously, without a human pilot, and will float down using a set of parachutes to land in the Texas desert. The New Shepard rocket booster is reusable and lands on a concrete slab near the launch site.

So far, Blue Origin has flown 31 people over the edge of space with New Shepard.

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