Space company Blue Origin said on Friday it wanted to resume rocket flights “soon” after it concluded an investigation into the cause of a launch accident last year. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is used primarily by Jeff Bezos’ company for space tourism flights from Texas, but at the time of the accident in September 2022, it was only carrying scientific experiments on board.
The rocket is made up of a single stage and, in its upper part, the capsule that carries its load. During the mission called NS-23, the main stage had suffered an anomaly, activating the automatic ejection system of the capsule, which had fallen back to the ground slowed down by its parachutes. The main stage had “touched the ground”, Blue Origin said at the time, instead of landing in a controlled manner to be reused as usual. Since then, an investigation has been carried out, under the supervision of the United States Aviation Regulator (FAA), to determine the reason for this accident.
The anomaly was caused by a “thermostructural” problem with an engine’s nozzle (the duct through which combustion gases are ejected), which resulted in “misalignment” at the time of thrust, Blue Origin said on Friday. Specifically, this engine component was exposed to higher than expected temperatures, the investigation concluded. “Design changes” to various elements should prevent this issue in the future, the company explained.
32 people sent into space since July 2021
Cargo transported in September 2022 “landed safely” after the anomaly, thanks to an ejection system that worked “as planned,” the company said. Blue Origin said it wants to resume flights “soon” by restarting the NS-23 mission, with the same recovered science payload intact.
Blue Origin has sent 32 people into space since July 2021, when its boss Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, took part in the first flight. Space tourists spend only a few minutes in weightlessness. The Virgin Galactic company is also positioned in this niche of short space tourism trips, but has not flown anyone since July 2021.
Source: BFM TV
