Tag: New Shepard

Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket Successfully Launches

AP reports that Blue Origin successfully “launched a rocket carrying experiments on Tuesday, its first flight since engine trouble caused a crash more than a year ago.” The New Shepard rocket “soared from West Texas, lifting a capsule full of tests, many of which were aboard the failed Blue Origin launch in September 2022.” No one “was aboard that flight or this latest one.” This time, the capsule “made it to the fringes of space, exposing the experiments from NASA and others to a few minutes of weightlessness, before parachuting back down to the desert.” The rocket “landed first, after releasing the capsule.” It “reached an altitude of 66 miles (107 kilometers) during the 10-minute flight.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
More Info (AIAA Statement)

Video

Blue Origin New Shepard Mission Launch 19 Dec. 2023
(YouTube)

AIAA Statement on Design/Build/Launch Student Experiments Onboard Successful Blue Origin New Shepard Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the Blue Origin team on today’s successful return to flight for their New Shepard rocket. AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who support New Shepard. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member Blue Origin for its perseverance in addressing the findings from the NS-23 mission mishap to achieve this successful mission today.

We are thrilled that two AIAA-sponsored student experiments were conducted during today’s New Shepard flight. The two experiments are winners of the Design/Build/Launch (DBL) competition sponsored by AIAA and Blue Origin:

  • Improving Fluid Management Through A Novel Microgravity Slosh Mitigation Technique by Eleanor Sigrest, graduate and valedictorian of a dual program at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, and the Governor’s School at Innovation Park, Manassas, Virginia
  • Acoustic Levitation Under Variable G by Puneeth Bheesetty, Anna Porter Puckett, and Jaden Shawyer, graduates ofGranby High School, Norfolk, Virginia

The DBL program is targeted to high school students, giving them an opportunity to develop creative research proposals for experimental payloads designed to study short-duration microgravity effects. The winners received $1,000 grants to prepare their work for flight onboard New Shepard.

We are excited to witness these students conducting their microgravity experiments and we can’t wait to hear more about their results. Their enthusiasm and passion inspire us as we anticipate their remarkable career journeys toward shaping the future of aerospace.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

 

Video

Blue Origin New Shepard Mission Launch 19 Dec. 2023
(YouTube)

Blue Origin Delays New Shepard Launch

SPACE reports that Blue Origin’s first mission “in more than 15 months was officially delayed on Monday (Dec. 18) after a last-minute scrub.” Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle “was originally supposed to lift off as early as 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT or 8:30 a.m. EST) on Monday.” Following a one-hour delay “due to cold temperatures at the company’s West Texas site, however, Blue Origin announced a scrub on X, formerly known as Twitter.” Officials said, “We’re scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the team is troubleshooting. We’ll provide a new launch target for this week soon.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Blue Origin to Resume New Shepard Suborbital Launches

Space News reports that Blue Origin “has announced plans to launch its New Shepard suborbital vehicle on its first flight since a mishap more than 15 months ago.” Blue Origin “announced on social media Dec. 12 that it will launch its New Shepard vehicle no earlier than Dec. 18 from its West Texas test site.” The vehicle “will carry 33 experiments as well as 38,000 postcards from Club for the Future, the educational nonprofit affiliated with the company.” The mission, designated NS-24, “would be the first for New Shepard since a mishap on a September 2022 flight, NS-23.”
Full Story (Space News)

Commercial Space Companies Warn Congress to Improve Regulations or US May Lose Spaceflight Lead

Spaceflight Now reports that the three companies that “have flown people to space and back, Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, joined two experts at a Congressional hearing to press for regulatory improvements, warning the US risks losing its lead in spaceflight.” The 1.5-hour-long hearing “before the US Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science was mainly focused on a regulatory framework called ‘Part 450,’ which was designed to help streamline the process of issuing launch licenses under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which goes by the acronym AST.” The five witnesses “argued that not only is the current regulatory framework not achieving its ideal goals, but it is stifling growth and innovation in the commercial launch market.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket May Fly Soon Following Closing of FAA Investigation

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that on Wednesday, the FAA “said it had closed its investigation into the flight of an uncrewed Blue Origin New Shepard rocket that ended with its booster destroyed and a capsule that had to use its emergency escape system.” The September 12, 2022, “mishap” was due to a “structural failure of an engine nozzle caused by higher than expected engine operating temperatures,” according to a release from the FAA. With the nozzle too hot, it “caused a trajectory change about one minute after liftoff from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site.” The capsule on the NS-23 mission “that was carrying science payloads performed as designed, though, blasting away from the booster after which it performed a parachute-assisted landing near the launch site.” The FAA’s investigation “resulted in 21 corrective actions Blue Origin had to undertake, including a redesign of the engine and nozzle components so the rocket boosters won’t suffer the same fate on future missions.” While the rocket “remains grounded for now, Blue Origin on its social media posted that flights would resume shortly.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

FAA Grounds Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket Pending Investigation of Aborted Launch

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the FAA has grounded the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket pending an investigation to “determine whether any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety” after the New Shepard suffered a launch mishap about a minute after liftoff. The FAA wrote, “The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system. The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

Blue Origin to Launch New Shepard Mission on August 31

SPACE reports that Blue Origin announced Wednesday “that it’s targeting Aug. 31 for NS-23, the next flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. New Shepard is best known for taking space tourists on brief trips to the final frontier, but NS-23 won’t haul anyone aloft – just 36 payloads provided by universities, other institutions and students.” NS-23 is “scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Aug. 31 from Blue Origin’s West Texas site.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Blue Origin Launches Sixth New Shepard Flight

CBS News reports that Blue Origin “launched its sixth New Shepard passenger flight Thursday, taking a half dozen space tourists on a supersonic dash to the edge of space and back, complete with a few minutes of weightlessness and out-of-this world views from 66 miles above west Texas.” The New Shepard rocket and capsule took off from Blue Origin’s “West Texas launch site Thursday, carrying an international six-member crew on a 10-minute flight to the edge of space and back.”
Full Story (CBS News)
More Info (AIAA Statement)

 

 Video

New Shepard Mission NS-22
(Blue Origin; YouTube)