New Shepard Launch Scrubbed due to Technical Issue
Blue Origin scrubbed a planned launch of its New Shepard booster Friday due to what the company described as a technical problem.
"New Shepard NS-13 launch is a no go for today. We are working to verify a fix on a technical issue and taking an extra look before we fly. New launch target forthcoming."
Blue Origin website
"New Shepard NS-13 launch is a no go for today. We are working to verify a fix on a technical issue and taking an extra look before we fly. New launch target forthcoming," the company posted on its website.
The launch had originally been planned for Thursday, but that attempt was scrubbed when a potential issue with the power supply to the experiments was detected. That problem apparently was not resolved in time for the Friday attempt.
When it does launch, the NS-13 mission will fly 12 commercial payloads to space and back, including the Deorbit, Descent, and Landing Sensor Demonstration with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate under a Tipping Point partnership. This is the first payload to fly mounted on the exterior of a New Shepard booster rather than inside the capsule, opening the door to a wide range of future high-altitude sensing, sampling, and exposure payloads.
The lunar landing sensor demo will test precision landing technologies for future missions to the Moon in support of the Artemis program. The experiment will verify how these technologies (sensors, computers, and algorithms) work together to determine a spacecraft’s location and speed as it approaches the Moon, enabling a vehicle to land autonomously on the lunar surface within 100 meters of a designated point. The technologies could allow future missions—both crewed and robotic—to target landing sites that weren’t possible during the Apollo missions, such as regions with varied terrain near craters. Achieving high accuracy landing will enable long-term lunar exploration and future Mars missions.
This is the first of two flights to test these lunar landing technologies, increasing confidence for successful missions in the Artemis program. NS-13 is part of the risk reduction process to test these types of sensors for future missions.
As a part of NASA’s Artemis Human Landing System program, Blue Origin is also leading the National Team, comprised of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, to develop a Human Landing System to return Americans to the lunar surface. The technology for the Blue Origin Descent Element that takes astronauts to the lunar surface is derived from the autonomous landing capabilities developed for the New Shepard program.
Payloads on board NS-13 include experiments from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Southwest Research Institute, NASA Flight Opportunities, Space Lab Technologies, University of Florida, Space Environment Technologies, and mu Space Corp. A selection of the manifested payloads can be found below.
Also on board will be tens of thousands of postcards from Blue Origin’s nonprofit, Club for the Future, some of which will include a special NASA Artemis stamp.
(Infographic provided with Blue Origin news release. Launch image from file)