An unmanned Blue Origin rocket crashed on Monday shortly after takeoff in western Texas, Jeff Bezos’ space company said, adding that the capsule managed to separate from the rest of the launcher.
It’s a blow to the company and the space tourism industry, where competition is fierce, although observers point out that potential passengers would likely have survived.
A video shows, after approximately one minute of takeoff, the capsule activates its emergency engines and separates from the main launcher at full speed. Then it lands with the help of a parachute.
The video does not show what happened to the launcher that crashed, the company published, and which, if successful, should have returned and landed smoothly.
“Launcher malfunction during today’s unmanned flight,” the company first announced, before noting that the capsule’s ejection system worked as expected. “There were no injuries,” Blue Origin said.
The unmanned capsule was only carrying research material for the “New Shepard 23” mission. The United States civil aviation regulator (FAA) has announced the suspension of any further takeoffs pending an investigation. “The capsule landed safely as the rocket landed on the ground in the designated hazard zone,” the federal agency said.
Competition
This was the company’s 23rd mission and the first to end in an accident, dealing a blow to the space tourism company created by the founder of Amazon.
Billionaire Jareed Isaacman, who chartered a private space mission with SpaceX last year, opined that “the takeoff safety system worked well. With so many rocket launches, engines and launchers under development in the industry, such an event would not should surprise.”
Space competition opened up a few years ago to different private companies in the United States. Jeff Bezos himself participated in Blue Origin’s first manned New Shepard flight in July 2021.
Since then, the spacecraft has carried about 30 people, including William Shatner, actor in the iconic fictional series “Star Trek”.
In early August, the company successfully sent the first Egyptian and the first Portuguese into space in an experience of just a few minutes in weightlessness.
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