Space company Blue Origin, led by billionaire Jeff Bezos, announced today its plans to launch a new mission of the New Shepard rocket on December 18. This will be the first flight since the incident with the unmanned vehicle in September 2022, as reported by the company on its X account (formerly Twitter).
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded its investigation into the incident in September and issued a series of “21 corrective actions” that Blue Origin must comply with before resuming launches. The FAA report indicated that a failure in the engine nozzle, caused by higher-than-expected temperatures, resulted in the rocket falling shortly after liftoff. However, the capsule with the research experiments was detached and safely returned to Earth.
The upcoming New Shepard mission will carry 33 scientific and research payloads along with 33,000 postcards. Blue Origin has previously conducted six crewed flights since July 2021, with both invited guests and paying passengers, including Jeff Bezos on the inaugural flight.
While Blue Origin resumes operations, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic continued commercial flights this year, maintaining competition in the burgeoning space tourism sector. Both companies offer suborbital experiences, providing customers with the opportunity to experience a few minutes of weightlessness in space. Ticket prices for Virgin Galactic flights range from $200,000 to $450,000, while Blue Origin has not publicly disclosed its fees. Jeff Bezos, in addition to his involvement in space exploration, is known as the founder of Amazon and the owner of The Washington Post.