There were also 38,000 postcards from students, a part of Blue Origin’s educational non-profit initiative Club for the Future, on board. These postcards, once returned to Earth, will bear the stamp ‘Flown to Space,’ serving as unique souvenirs for the participating students.
Blue Origin emphasized that NS-24 had received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to proceed. The company expressed its commitment to reschedule the launch later in the week, with the launch window opening at 8:30 am local time.
A Series of Setbacks
The preceding mission, NS-23, faced a critical anomaly just over a minute after lift-off in September 2022. The New Shepard’s capsule activated its escape system, separating from the booster when the engine malfunctioned.
The FAA conducted a comprehensive year-long probe into the incident, attributing the failure to an engine nozzle issue caused by higher-than-expected operating temperatures.
The FAA’s corrective actions mandated a series of improvements before Blue Origin could resume launches. The investigation revealed that the engine nozzle failure led to the New Shepard rocket falling back to the ground after liftoff.
