Blue Origin NS-23

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  none Launch date - time  12 September 2022 - 14:27 UTC Launch site  Corn Ranch, LS-1 Launch vehicle  New Shepard Booster  NS3-F9 Spacecraft  RSS H.G.Wells F9 Manufacturer  Blue Origin Mass (kg)  12519 kg?? Crew  Unmanned Earth flight:    - Perigee / Apogee  11.4 km (Capsule) End of mission  Tail 3 booster destroyed Landing date Capsule - time  12 September 2022 - 14:32:30 UTC Landing location  Corn Ranch Mission type  Sub-orbital spaceflight, Apogee Capsule: 11,4 km Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  ~5 min, 30 sec Note: Suborbital / launch failed, capsule landed safely.

Description:

• Blue Origin NS-23 was an sub-orbital cargo spaceflight mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, New Shepard Booster 3 (NS3), which launched on September 12, 2022. The booster failed during max q about a minute after launch, triggering the launch escape system which removed the capsule from the booster. The capsule landed successfully, while the booster was destroyed upon impact with the ground.

Mission details:

• The flight involved the capsule RSS H. G. Wells and the propulsion module Tail 3, forming the New Shepard stack.[2] The vehicle was originally intended to launch on August 31 but was grounded by bad weather, first to September 1 and then to September 12.
• On September 12, the vehicle lifted off as expected but one minute and four seconds into the flight at an altitude of approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) as the rocket was reaching its maximum dynamic pressure, booster one failed and yellow flames could be seen coming from it. As the rocket begun to tilt the launch escape system was triggered by the booster failure, pushing the capsule away from the booster. The capsule reached an altitude of more than 11 km (7 mi), before successfully deploying its parachutes and landing; the booster impacted in a hazard zone and was destroyed. The flight had no humans aboard, but the same booster design is used on Blue Origin's commercial flights carrying passengers.
• As the launch escape system was triggered Blue Origin's live launch commentary went silent, before saying "It appears we've experienced an anomaly with today's flight. This wasn't planned". Blue Origin later tweeted "Booster failure on today's uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed".
• The flight was the first complete mission failure of the New Shepard vehicle, and the second in-flight anomaly after NS-1, where the booster crashed upon landing, with the capsule landing safely. This was the fourth time the abort motor has been used, and only time outside of testing. The three previous times were a pad abort test, an in flight abort test at max q (NS-5), and an in flight test at high altitude (NS-9).
• Payload: NS-23 was the twenty-third flight of the New Shepard vehicle, and the first time the vehicle failed to reach outer space as expected. On board were thirty-six payloads, including eighteen funded by NASA's Flight Opportunities program. Blue Origin expects that the majority of the payloads survived due to the backup safety systems, although two payloads attached to the outside of the capsule, including JANUS-APL, are predicted to have been destroyed.

Photo of the safe landing of the NS-23 capsule, which functioned as designed throughout the flight. All payloads landed safely. Credit: Blue Origin

External links:

• Wikipedia: Description mission
  
• Blue Origin: Description mission