Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket Set for Return to Action Next Week

The space tourism firm could fly a cargo mission as soon as Monday as it seeks to get back into the commercial space race.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 03:22 PM ET

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard lifts off for the NS-22 mission on August 4, 2022. [Courtesy: Blue Origin]

Key Takeaways:

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, grounded since a September 2022 engine mishap, has completed its FAA investigation and is targeting a return to flight on December 18 for a cargo mission.
During Blue Origin's grounding, rival Virgin Galactic advanced in commercial space tourism, completing its first commercial spaceflight with paying customers in June and flying monthly since.
Despite the hiatus, Blue Origin previously flew high-profile passengers to space and has ambitious future plans, including the New Glenn rocket and contracts with NASA for lunar and Martian missions.

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Whether you view it as a small step for the 1 percent or a giant leap for all mankind, commercial space travel has arrived. And the race for the industry’s pole position is heating up.

Blue Origin, the space tourism venture of billionaire ex-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announced on X, formerly Twitter, that the company’s New Shepard rocket could fly again as soon as Monday. New Shepard had been grounded by the FAA following the crash of an uncrewed escape capsule in September 2022.