Blue Origin has determined that the September 2022 NS-23 mission failure was caused by a structural fatigue failure of the nozzle on the booster’s single BE-3PM engine, due to operational temperatures that exceeded the expected and analyzed values of the nozzle material. The company is changing the design of the engine’s combustion chamber and adjusting some of its operating parameters to prevent the problem from happening again. The emergency escape system functioned correctly during the anomaly, and the mission’s science payloads will be lofted during the return-to-flight mission. Blue Origin has used different New Shepard vehicles for its uncrewed and space-tourist flights, and the NS-23 mission was the second in-flight anomaly for the vehicle. All passengers aboard the New Shepard vehicle experience a few minutes of weightlessness during the 10- to 12-minute mission.
Blue Origin has announced that it has finally figured out what caused its New Shepard rocket launch to fail in September 2022. The company’s NS-23 mission, which was the 23rd flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle, encountered an issue about 65 seconds into the flight, resulting in the loss of the reusable first-stage booster. However, the capsule managed to launch itself away from trouble and landed safely. After a six-month investigation, Blue Origin determined that the nozzle on the booster’s single BE-3PM engine suffered from “structural fatigue failure,” causing a thrust misalignment that triggered the capsule’s emergency escape system. The company stated that the structural fatigue was caused by operational temperatures that exceeded the expected and analyzed values of the nozzle material. Testing of the engine indicated that the flight configuration of the nozzle operated at hotter temperatures than previous design configurations.
Blue Origin has taken steps to prevent this issue from occurring again. The company is changing the design of the engine’s combustion chamber and adjusting some of its operating parameters. These steps have reduced engine nozzle bulk and hot-streak temperatures. Additionally, Blue Origin has improved the structural performance of the nozzle under thermal and dynamic loads. The company plans to fly again soon and will loft the science payloads from the NS-23 mission, which survived the anomaly and landed softly in the New Shepard capsule.
The failure of Blue Origin’s New Shepard mission is a reminder that spaceflight is still a challenging endeavor. However, with a thorough investigation and the implementation of improvements, Blue Origin is confident that it can prevent this type of failure from happening again.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule’s emergency escape system functioned correctly during the anomaly that led to the failure of the NS-23 mission. The company conducted the investigation with oversight from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, along with input from the National Transportation Safety Board and NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program and Commercial Crew Office.
Of the 23 New Shepard missions conducted so far, six have been crewed, with the latest passenger flight occurring in August 2022. The vehicle’s passengers enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness and experience the curve of Earth against the blackness of space, but the overall experience is brief; New Shepard missions last just 10 to 12 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown.
Blue Origin has used different New Shepard vehicles for its uncrewed and space-tourist flights. All six of the latter have flown on a craft called RSS First Step; the September 2022 research mission employed the New Shepard RSS H.G. Wells.
The NS-23 mission was the second in-flight anomaly for New Shepard, with the only other one occurring on the vehicle’s uncrewed debut mission in 2015. In that instance, the booster crash-landed, but the capsule successfully made it to and from suborbital space.
The author of “Out There,” Mike Wall, has written a book about the search for alien life. He can be followed on Twitter at “@michaeldwall”. Additionally, Space.com can be followed on Twitter at “@SPACEdotcom” or on Facebook.
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