Blue Origin Completes New Shepard Flight Since Previous Failure

In September 2022, Blue Origin’s New Shepard wasn’t able to successfully launch. Since then, the spacecraft has been grounded. This past Tuesday, Blue Origin was able to get the New Shepard to launch.

At 11:43 AM, the Blue Origin New Shepard launched from the Launch Site One in West Texas. The reusable rocket reached a max altitude of 66.5 miles, with the booster touching down at about 7:26 minutes into the mission.

The Blue Origin NS-24 mission carried 33 research payloads. This also included 38,000 digital postcards for Club Fight the Future, which is a nonprofit that aims to spark young people’s interest in space.

This marks the New Shepard’s 24th flight and it’s 13th payload mission. When the rocket took off last time, it’s booster exploded mid flight. They were able to identify a thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle, where the booster’s engine overheated as a result of increased temperatures.

_{Image Source: Blue Origin}