More than a year after an accident, Blue Origin plans to relaunch its rocket around December 18

New launch for Blue Origin. The American space company announced on Tuesday, December 12, that it was planning a launch of its New Shepard rocket the penultimate week of December, more than a year after an accident that grounded it. “We are aiming for a shooting window which opens on December 18”the company wrote on X, specifying that the mission would carry scientific experiments.

The accident, which occurred in September 2022, resulted in the crash of the rocket’s propulsion stage, which was not then carrying passengers. This crash triggered the opening of an investigation by the American air regulator (FAA), concluded in September 2023. The agency then requested changes from the space company before flights could resume. “We expect to receive authorization for our amended license”a Blue Origin spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday.

The New Shepard rocket is notably used by Blue Origin for space tourism flights from Texas. It has already taken around thirty people for trips of a few minutes over the final frontier, including the founder of the company Jeff Bezos himself.