Successful return to flight of the New Shepard missile

Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket carried out a mission on December 19, 2023, without a hitch. This was the first launch attempt since September 12, 2022.

After 15 months without flying, the New Shepard suborbital rocket successfully took off on December 19, 2023 from its launch pad located in Texas. Best: You completed the entire ascent stage without the slightest problem. At its peak, the capsule was not carrying passengers, as was the case on several occasions, but rather carrying 33 NASA payloads. After separating from the launch pad, the spacecraft reached an altitude of 106 km for a few minutes of microgravity on board. Then he gently returned to Earth under his three parachutes, after a flight that lasted 10 minutes and 13 seconds.

On September 12, 2022, the missile suffered its first flight failure. Although the emergency launch of the capsule containing the payload was successful, the setback forced Blue Origin to halt flights to study the causes of the failure. This was due to overheating in the BE-3PM engine which was caused by a design change made before the mission. Meanwhile, structural changes were made to the engine to enable it to withstand higher than expected temperatures. This success seems to confirm the validity of the modifications.

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