Blue Origin New Shepard

After a 15-month hiatus to address a booster nozzle issue that caused its last launch to fail, Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle returned to suborbital space.

More than 15 months after a New Shepard booster failed, Blue Origin plans to resume flights of its reusable suborbital vehicle, with liftoff set for Dec. 18.

The company is developing a large spacecraft to transport, host, refuel and provide data and other services for multiple payloads.

Progress has been slow on Blue Origin's New Glenn orbital launch system under Bob Smith’s watch, with an expected 2024 debut coming four years behind schedule.

NASA’s return to the Moon—and future human exploration initiatives—rely on private sector partnerships.

A Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital booster failed during an uncrewed Sept. 12 launch due to structural fatigue on the engine nozzle.