By Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said it has closed a probe into Blue Origin's 2022 New Shepard rocket failure, forcing a redesign of the vehicle's engine and other fixes before the company can resume its suborbital launch business.
The FAA cited 21 corrective actions that Blue Origin must take before New Shepard can return to flight, including "redesign of engine and nozzle components to improve structural performance during operation as well as organizational changes."
A Blue Origin spokesperson did not answer questions on whether any of those corrective actions or redesigns had been made, saying "we've received the FAA's letter and plan to fly soon."
The company's New Shepard rocket, which flies cargo and humans on short trips to the edge of space, has been grounded since a Sept. 2022 mission without a crew failed roughly a minute after liftoff from Texas, forcing the rocket's capsule full of NASA experiments to eject mid-flight.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
