Space tourism company Blue Origin has set its sights on a Recent Shepard launch window that starts tomorrow at 9:30AM ET, its first attempt because the rocket booster failed during its September 2022 launch. The corporate says its Recent Shepard rocket will launch from its Launch Site One in West Texas. Blue Origin will livestream the launch on its website 20 minutes before the countdown.
This shall be the twenty fourth launch of the reusable Recent Shepard rocket, and can carry 33 science payloads. Most of its launches have been uncrewed, but as noted, six of them have had human beings on board, including William Shatner. Last 12 months, Blue Origin’s uncrewed NS-23 launch failed, prompting a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation.
The FAA said in its September report that the “proximate cause” of the failure was an engine nozzle that succumbed to “higher than expected engine operating temperatures,” but that debris from the mishap was entirely contained within the “designated hazard area.” The agency gave the corporate 21 corrective actions to maintain the identical failure from happening again, “including redesign of engine and nozzle components” and organizational changes.
The rocket will even be carrying 38,000 postcards sent by students participating in Blue Origin’s Club for the Future program promoting STEM education. Club for the Future accepts physical postcards for Recent Shepard missions, however the club also sends along a hard disk stuffed with digital submissions.