The mission marked New Shepard's 24th flight and its 13th payload mission. The rocket had previously experienced a failure due to a "thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle" which led to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounding New Shepard and initiating an investigation. After a year, the FAA concluded its investigation, providing Blue Origin with 21 corrective actions to implement before resuming launches. The successful return of New Shepard marks its recovery from a rare anomaly and the resumption of its suborbital trips.
Key takeaways:
- Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket successfully completed its first cargo mission since a mission failure in September 2022.
- The rocket reached a maximum altitude of 66.5 miles and carried 33 research payloads, more than half of which were developed and flown with support from NASA.
- The rocket failure in 2022 was due to a 'thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle', according to Blue Origin.
- The Federal Aviation Administration grounded New Shepard for a year, and after an investigation, handed Blue Origin a list of 21 corrective actions to implement before resuming launches.