Blue Origin New Shepard Flight Coming Next Week, NS24 to Carry Payloads After More Than a Year

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 12 December 2023, 10:12 pm

After more than a year since their last attempt to go to space, Blue Origin is launching another mission with the New Shepard spacecraft, centering on an uncrewed flight for payloads to deliver. The renowned New Shepard is best known to be its take on reusable rockets, offering an all-in-one solution of both the rocket and the capsule, set for its return to orbit this December.

The upcoming flight is set for next week, with the spacecraft offering a rideshare for its customers, including that of NASA.

Blue Origin New Shepard Flight is Coming Next Week

(Photo : @HemlockAm via X)

In the latest update of the company via its official X account, Blue Origin is going on a mission before the year ends, coming next week with the New Shepard's spaceflight seeing its return.

This follows the September 2022 mishap which led to a significant setback for the company's reusable rocket ventures, best known for its crewed spaceflights.

With this mission, the NS24 will carry as much as 33 science and research payloads, with NASA part of this rideshare, as well as 38,000 postcards from Club for Future, to the orbit.

NS24: First Flight After More Than A Year

Blue Origin released the summary findings of its NS23's mishap in 2022 earlier this year, claiming that it was due to the thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle, prompting its termination. After around 15 months, the grounded spacecraft will be making its return come next week's launch window, featuring the retrieved payloads from the September 2022 mission, hopeful for its success this time.

Blue Origin's Space Ventures

Blue Origin has been the brainchild of one of the top billionaires of the world, Jeff Bezos, and poured all of his dreams into this venture centering on offering a commercial company for everything space. Back in July 2021, the company launched its inaugural spaceflight with Bezos himself on board, flying with the company's New Shepard rocket which also brought three other crewmates.

In what should have been a fruitful 2022 for the company as it planned to double its missions, there have been several setbacks for Blue Origin which prevented it from continuing.

First off, there were safety concerns against the company, leading to an FAA investigation, but it was then followed by the sudden termination system which led to the capsule detaching from the NS23 spacecraft, aborting the mission.

Despite earlier tests proving to be successful, the September 2022 mishap held back Blue Origin from further developments, subsequently followed by the BE4 engine's explosion earlier this year. After the investigations were closed, Blue Origin wasted no time in concocting its next flight, now doing so before the year ends, with the NS24 mission slated for no earlier than December 18.