Blue Origin Suffers Launch Failure on NS-23

Failure of the Booster | Credit: Blue Origin

On Monday, September 12 at 9:27am CDT (14:27 UTC), Blue Origin attempted to launch an uncrewed suborbital flight with 36 payloads (primarily chosen via NASA's Flight Opportunities program) of the New Shephard rocket and capsule from their launch site in West Texas. About a minute after launch, the booster had an anomaly, causing the capsule's Launch Abort System to activate pulling it away from the booster which crashed into the ground shortly after. The capsule then successfully landed via parachute. The booster, Tail 3, and the capsule, R.S.S. H.G. Wells, were both reserved for uncrewed payload flights. It is currently unknown what caused the anomaly and what the next steps are.