Blue Origin's New Shepard Rocket Launch Delayed Again
Blue Origin's first mission in over 15 months, the NS-24 mission, was delayed due to a ground systems issue. The New Shepard suborbital vehicle was scheduled to launch but was scrubbed after a one-hour delay caused by cold temperatures. Blue Origin announced the scrub on Twitter and stated that they would provide a new launch target for later in the week. The previous launch failure in September 2022 was caused by an engine nozzle's thermo-structural failure, and Blue Origin has made design changes to prevent a recurrence. The NS-24 mission includes 33 research payloads, with more than half developed and flown with support from NASA, as well as 38,000 postcards for the Blue Origin-founded nonprofit "Club for the Future."