Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin suffers a rocket failure during its mission

The rocket aborted its cargo capsule before crashing into the Texas desert.

A rocket from the company Blue Origin failed shortly after the lift. The rocket aborted its cargo capsule before crashing into the Texas desert. Blue Origin is Jeff Bezos's space company. The rocket was unmanned and lifted off from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site on Monday. This was the company's 23rd New Shepard mission and it aims to send NASA-funded experiments and other payloads to the edge of space to float for a few minutes in microgravity. Just over a minute after the liftoff and roughly 5 miles above the ground, the booster's engines flared unexpectedly during ascent.

The capsule's abort motor system triggered almost immediately, jetting the craft away from the faulty rocket before parachuting back to land intact. The booster crashed within the designated hazard area, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees and regulates launch site safety. Blue Origin's fleet of New Shepard rockets is grounded until the FAA signs off on the outcome of a company-led investigation into the mishap, the agency added. Billionaire Bezos, the Amazon.com Inc. founder who started Blue Origin in 2000, was among the first passengers to fly New Shepard during its debut crewed mission in 2021.