Blue Origin, by Jeff Bezos, returns to space after accident – 12/19/2023 – Science

A New Shepard rocket, from Blue Origin, was launched this Tuesday (19). The flight marks the return to space of the company, founded by American millionaire Jeff Bezos, more than a year after an accident.

Ten minutes after launch, the NS-24 unmanned mission capsule, which contained scientific material, landed in the desert, according to a live broadcast.

The return to space was necessary so that the company can resume space tourism trips, which have already allowed 31 people to spend a few minutes beyond the limit of the Earth’s atmosphere.

The rocket successfully took off from West Texas at 16:43 GMT (1:43 pm Brasília). Its main engine, which is reusable, landed without complications less than eight minutes later on the arid plains of the southern United States.

The launch, initially scheduled for Monday (18), was postponed “due to a problem with terrestrial systems”, Blue Origin reported on the X social network.

The unmanned mission carried scientific experiments, more than half of which were developed with NASA support.

The capsule that contained this equipment landed in the desert with the help of parachutes ten minutes after takeoff and after having surpassed the limit of space, flying for a few moments up to 107 km above the Earth.

The accident that occurred in September 2022 caused the fall of the rocket’s propulsion module, which, at that time, was not carrying passengers.

The American Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA) opened an investigation, which concluded in September. According to the investigation, the accident was caused by a higher than expected temperature in an engine nozzle.

In order to resume flights, the FAA asked the company to make changes, such as changing the design of certain engine components.

The regulator confirmed to AFP that it had approved the modified flight license presented by Blue Origin.

New Horizons

In total, the company has carried out six crewed flights (some passengers were paying customers and others flew as guests) since July 2021, when Bezos himself participated in the first of them.

During the time that Blue Origin remained on the ground, its competitor, Virgin Galactic, founded by British millionaire Richard Branson, advanced, registering five commercial flights this year.

The two companies compete in the emerging space tourism sector, operating in suborbital space.

Blue Origin uses a small rocket vertically, and Virgin Galactic uses a large plane to gain altitude, which is attached to a smaller ship, propelled by a rocket that completes the journey into space.

In both cases, passengers enjoy the lack of gravity for a few minutes and can contemplate the Earth through large windows.

Virgin Galactic tickets were sold for US$200,000 to US$450,000 (R$973,000 and R$2.1 million). Blue Origin does not disclose the prices it charges.

Bezos’ company can boast that almost its entire rocket platform is reusable, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear and parachute.

Its engine is powered by liquid oxygen and hydrogen, meaning the only by-product of flight is water vapor, with no carbon emissions.

Blue Origin is also developing a heavy commercial rocket called New Glenn, whose maiden flight is scheduled for next year. Standing 98 meters tall, it was designed to carry payloads of up to 45 metric tons into low Earth orbit.