Observe Blue Origin launch its first mission in fifteen months now

You can watch the action live as Blue Origin launches its first mission in over 15 months this morning, December 18.

The New Shepard suborbital vehicle from Blue Origin is expected to lift off today at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local Texas time) during a window that opens. The company is located in West Texas.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon founded Blue Origin, where you can watch the action live. If feasible, Space.com will also carry the company’s feed. Start time for coverage is 9:10 a.m. EST (1410 GMT).

Reusable rocket-capsule technology called New Shepard is used to launch passengers and cargo into suborbital space. Since September 12, 2022, when it experienced an anomaly during an unmanned research flight, the vehicle has not been in service.

New Shepard’s first-stage booster was lost as a result of that failure, but the capsule and its 36 research payloads made a safe landing under parachute systems.

The cause of the crash was determined by Blue Origin’s accident investigation to be a “thermo-structural failure” of the nozzle on the engine that powers New Shepard’s booster. After making the necessary corrections, the company is now prepared to take off once more.

This mission, called NS-24 because it will be the 24th overall liftoff for New Shepard, is unmanned, just like the flight in September 2022. More than half of the 33 research payloads on board were “developed and flown with support from NASA,” according to a mission description provided by Blue Origin.

“Others come from K-12 schools, universities, and STEAM-focused organizations,” they added. (STEAM stands for “science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.”)

Additionally, 38,000 postcards for Club for the Future, a nonprofit organization started by Blue Origin with the goal of igniting young people’s interest in space science and exploration, will be carried on today’s flight.