Blue Origin has determined that a “thermo-structural failure” in the NS-23 rocket’s engine nozzle caused the booster failure during a New Shepard flight last September. Design changes to the cooling system caused operational temperatures to rise higher than expected, leading to fatigue that misaligned the thrust and triggered the crew capsule’s escape system. Engineers are taking corrective actions that include redesigning the combustion chamber and operating conditions while also tweaking the nozzle design to improve structural integrity. The capsule was undamaged and will fly again. Blue Origin hopes to resume flights by re-flying the research payload from the aborted mission, pending acceptance of the incident findings by the Federal Aviation Administration. The company’s recent NASA contract to fly a science mission to Mars and push for a lunar lander agreement increases the pressure to prove rocketry’s trustworthiness to secure customers such as governments and space tourists. Rivals, including Relativity Space and SpaceX, are also facing their own difficulties with 3D-printed rockets and Starship engine firing, illustrating the tough reality of private spaceflight.
Blue Origin blames faulty engine nozzle for NS-23 rocket failure last summer. #rocketscience #engineeringfails
