Updated Dec 12, 2023, 05:09pm EST
Topline
Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-founded space company, announced plans to launch its New Shepard rocket as early as Dec. 18—a step toward resuming its space tourism program more than a year after it was sidelined by a mid-launch malfunction last September.
Key Facts
The company is “targeting a launch window that opens on Dec. 18” for its next New Shepard launch, which will be unmanned, carrying 33 science and “research payloads”—technology aimed at collecting data and conducting experiments in space—as well as 38,000 post cards to space from the nonprofit Club for the Future.
But the launch would also represent Blue Origin’s return to the space tourism race, after a September 2022 mid-launch malfunction grounded the New Shepard program for more than a year amid an investigation into the cause.
The New Shepard vessel was developed for space tourism and is designed to fit six people, offering an 11-minute flight, according to Blue Origin’s website.
Key Background
Prior to the 2022 malfunction aboard an unmanned flight, the New Shepard rocket had successfully taken more than two dozen people to space, including Star Trek Actor William Shatner and Bezos himself. But in September 2022, the rocket failed in an uncrewed mission just seconds into the launch. Blue Origin began an investigation, overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, into the cause of the malfunction. The FAA closed its investigation into the crash in September, requiring Blue Origin to take 21 corrective actions, including redesigning its engine and nozzle components. In the hiatus, however, Blue Origin’s competitor, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, has been able to continue its space tourism operations uninterrupted, completing its sixth commercial flight in six months in November. Some estimates claim it costs Blue Origin $100 million a year to maintain and operate its New Shepard rocket, according to Ars Technica. In 2017, Bezos, who Forbes has estimated is worth $169.8 billion, announced his intention to sell $1 billion in Amazon stock a year to fund Blue Origin. The exact price of a ticket on board New Shepard isn’t known, but in 2018 reports indicated it could cost at least $200,000. But the first ticket ever sold went for $28 million in an online auction in 2021.
Big Number
31. That’s how many people had flown into space on board the New Shepard rocket before last year’s malfunction ceased operations.
What To Watch For
Whether the flight goes off as scheduled. It’s contingent on approval from the FAA, which isn’t final yet, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the launch.
Tangent
Blue Origin also continues to work on its heavy-payload New Glenn rocket, which NASA has tapped to transport probes on an eventual Mars mission. Launch for that mission is eyed for 2024. Blue Origin has invested more than $2.5 billion into the development of the rocket.
