On March 15, 2021, Blue Origin experienced a fiery crash test failure with its New Shepard booster rocket. The rocket, designed to launch tourists into suborbital space, suffered a catastrophic explosion just 41 seconds after launch, as a result of an apparent engine failure.
Blue Origin, the aerospace manufacturing company founded by Jeff Bezos, was testing its New Shepard rocket in preparation for human-carrying space missions. The technology is meant to enable tourists to travel to a suborbital altitude, experience a few minutes of weightlessness, and then glide back to the ground for a safe landing.
The rocket was launched from Blue Origin’s test center in West Texas and began to experience engine failure around 40 seconds after launch. It then quickly spiraled out of control and descended to the earth in a ball of fire. Fortunately, the booster did not have any astronauts or customers aboard, with the test center’s cameras capturing the full event.
In a statement made on the company’s website, Blue Origin attributed the cause of the accident to an “engine component that did not work as expected.” In particular, the faulty component was a thrust vector actuator, which helps control the direction of the rocket’s engine during ascent. Blue Origin stated that their engineers are currently analyzing the situation and working to identify the root cause of failure.
The accident has raised questions about the readiness of Blue Origin’s advanced rocket technology. However, the company maintains that its safety protocols were followed and that it is confident that the issue will be resolved quickly. Blue Origin has since postponed human-carrying space tourist flights until further notice.
In the wake of this setback, Blue Origin is liable to face close scrutiny from its stakeholders as well as its competitors. Despite the unfortunate crash, the company’s statement reveals an optimistic outlook moving forward, with the intention of continuing to build reliable and safe spaceflight technology.
