<p>Washington: Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin called off a return-to-flight mission with its suborbital New Shepard rocket in Texas over what it described as a ground system issue encountered during preparations for liftoff, the company said.</p><p>"We're scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the team is troubleshooting," Blue Origin wrote on social network X, formally Twitter. "We’ll provide a new launch target for this week soon."</p><p>New Shepard, the company's only active rocket that can carry humans and cargo on short trips to and from the brim of space, was scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. CT (1530 GMT) on Monday for the first time since a mission failure last year triggered a 15-month grounding.</p><p>No humans, but 33 research experiments, were to be on board for the mission, named NS24 for what would have been its 24th flight. A ground system issue typically concerns a snag with the rocket's launch pad, rather than the rocket itself.</p><p>New Shepard's last mission early last year failed mid-flight because of a "structural failure" in the rocket's engine nozzle that had been caused by excessive heat blasting from the engine's combustion chamber, Blue Origin said.</p><p>The US Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees mishap investigations by private rocket companies, required Blue Origin to redesign New Shepard's engine and make 20 other fixes before returning to flight.</p><p>The 15-month long launch hiatus held up Blue Origin's centerpiece space tourism business, where New Shepard launches groups of wealthy tourists to the edge of space for a few minutes in microgravity before parachuting back in their capsule.</p><p>Bezos, the company's founder and main owner, was among New Shepard's first crew in 2021 to fulfill his personal aim to reach space and as a show of confidence in the rocket's design.</p><p>Bezos in recent months has shaken up Blue Origin's leadership and reorganized the business as it faces mounting competitive pressure to debut New Glenn, a much bigger rocket that will rival SpaceX's dominant Falcon 9 rocket and forthcoming Starship system in the satellite launch market.</p>
<p>Washington: Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin called off a return-to-flight mission with its suborbital New Shepard rocket in Texas over what it described as a ground system issue encountered during preparations for liftoff, the company said.</p><p>"We're scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the team is troubleshooting," Blue Origin wrote on social network X, formally Twitter. "We’ll provide a new launch target for this week soon."</p><p>New Shepard, the company's only active rocket that can carry humans and cargo on short trips to and from the brim of space, was scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. CT (1530 GMT) on Monday for the first time since a mission failure last year triggered a 15-month grounding.</p><p>No humans, but 33 research experiments, were to be on board for the mission, named NS24 for what would have been its 24th flight. A ground system issue typically concerns a snag with the rocket's launch pad, rather than the rocket itself.</p><p>New Shepard's last mission early last year failed mid-flight because of a "structural failure" in the rocket's engine nozzle that had been caused by excessive heat blasting from the engine's combustion chamber, Blue Origin said.</p><p>The US Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees mishap investigations by private rocket companies, required Blue Origin to redesign New Shepard's engine and make 20 other fixes before returning to flight.</p><p>The 15-month long launch hiatus held up Blue Origin's centerpiece space tourism business, where New Shepard launches groups of wealthy tourists to the edge of space for a few minutes in microgravity before parachuting back in their capsule.</p><p>Bezos, the company's founder and main owner, was among New Shepard's first crew in 2021 to fulfill his personal aim to reach space and as a show of confidence in the rocket's design.</p><p>Bezos in recent months has shaken up Blue Origin's leadership and reorganized the business as it faces mounting competitive pressure to debut New Glenn, a much bigger rocket that will rival SpaceX's dominant Falcon 9 rocket and forthcoming Starship system in the satellite launch market.</p>