"We're scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the
team is troubleshooting," Blue Origin wrote on social network X,
formally Twitter. The company later said it was targeting
Tuesday 10:37 a.m. CT (16:37 GMT) for New Shepard's next launch
attempt.
New Shepard, the company's only active rocket that can carry
humans and cargo on short trips to and from the brim of space,
was scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. CT (1530 GMT) on Monday for
the first time since a mission failure last year triggered a
15-month grounding.
No humans, but 33 research experiments, were to be on board for
the mission, named NS24 for what would have been its 24th
flight. A ground system issue typically concerns a snag with the
rocket's launch pad, rather than the rocket itself.
New Shepard's last mission early last year failed mid-flight
because of a "structural failure" in the rocket's engine nozzle
that had been caused by excessive heat blasting from the
engine's combustion chamber, Blue Origin said.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees mishap
investigations by private rocket companies, required Blue Origin
to redesign New Shepard's engine and make 20 other fixes before
returning to flight.
The 15-month long launch hiatus held up Blue Origin's
centerpiece space tourism business, where New Shepard launches
groups of wealthy tourists to the edge of space for a few
minutes in microgravity before parachuting back in their
capsule.
Bezos, the company's founder and main owner, was among New
Shepard's first crew in 2021 to fulfill his personal aim to
reach space and as a show of confidence in the rocket's design.
Bezos in recent months has shaken up Blue Origin's leadership
and reorganized the business as it faces mounting competitive
pressure to debut New Glenn, a much bigger rocket that will
rival SpaceX's dominant Falcon 9 rocket and forthcoming Starship
system in the satellite launch market.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Andrea
Ricci and Aurora Ellis)
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