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It’s a misfire for billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. Above Texas on Monday, September 12, the launcher crashed for an as yet unknown reason, with no casualties.
With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
The NS-23 mission will not have lasted more than a minute. It was indeed 62 seconds after takeoff that abnormal flames escaped from the engine baptized New Shepard. The automatic system then triggered the emergency procedure and the capsule, uninhabited for the occasion, separated with its autonomous engine.
Loaded with 36 experiments, some of which for NASA, she returned to earth hampered by her parachutes. This may or may not reassure future space tourists who may be considering a flight. Blue Origin has made a specialty of this kind of theft with its own boss Jeff Bezos or even actor William Shattner, known for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in the series Star Trek.
Flights suspended
On the other hand, questions arise about the launcher. It is in principle reusable and it was also on its ninth flight. Instead of returning to earth smoothly, it crashed in the safety zone provided for this purpose. The US Civil Aviation Authority has decided to suspend Blue Origin flights until an explanation is found.
This incident comes after two successive postponements of the launch of the Artemis 1 lunar mission as a precaution and for reasons of fuel leaks.
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