BE-3 – Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin blames September New Shepard abort on engine nozzle failure

March 27, 2023 William Harwood

Structural failure of the nozzle at the base of a rocket engine powering an unpiloted New Shepard spacecraft toward the edge of space last September triggered a dramatic-but-safe in-flight abort, builder Blue Origin announced Friday, saying the company has identified fixes and plans to resume sub-orbital flights “soon.”

Blue Origin practices crew operations on suborbital test flight

April 14, 2021 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, took another step toward launching people to the edge of space Wednesday with a test flight of its New Shepard booster and crew capsule over West Texas. “It’s time,” Bezos wrote on Instagram after the flight, suggesting Blue Origin plans to move forward with suborbital launches carrying human passengers above the atmosphere.

Blue Origin to rehearse for human passengers on suborbital flight

April 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

Finally on the cusp of launching people to the edge of space, Blue Origin plans to use a suborbital test flight of its New Shepard booster and crew capsule Wednesday to rehearse boarding and recovery procedures for future missions with paying passengers.

Blue Origin tests passenger accommodations on suborbital launch

January 14, 2021 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin says it is “very, very close” to flying humans on suborbital launches to the edge of space after a successful test flight of a human-capable rocket and capsule Thursday.

Blue Origin completes successful suborbital space shot

October 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket to the edge of space Tuesday from the company’s remote desert test site in West Texas on an experimental flight to test precision lunar landing technology for NASA.

Blue Origin launches New Shepard on 12th test flight

December 11, 2019 William Harwood

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a reusable New Shepard rocket Wednesday, boosting an unpiloted capsule on a successful up-and-down flight to space in the 12th test of a spacecraft designed to carry “space tourists” and other commercial astronauts on brief forays above the atmosphere.

Blue Origin preps for suborbital launch

December 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

After poor weather scrubbed a launch attempt Tuesday, Blue Origin plans to launch the 12th flight of the company’s New Shepard suborbital booster Wednesday from West Texas with a package of research payloads.

Blue Origin scrubs suborbital launch attempt, delays flight to early 2019

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin scrubbed the planned launch Tuesday of the company’s suborbital New Shepard booster from West Texas due to a “ground infrastructure issue,” and later said the flight would be pushed back to early 2019.

Blue Origin performs high-altitude test of crew escape motor

July 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard booster launched Wednesday on an uncrewed test flight, sending a capsule on a brief jaunt into space over West Texas to demonstrate a key safety feature for space tourists and scientists riding on the company’s future rockets.

Video: Blue Origin flies New Shepard rocket for eighth time

April 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin’s New Shepard booster, topped with a capsule carrying a dummy dubbed Mannequin Skywalker, took off Sunday from the company’s sprawling test site in West Texas on a 10-minute trip to the edge of space and back.