NS-23 abort
The New Shepard capsule fired its launch abort motor to get away from its booster after a malfunction about a minute after liftoff on an uncrewed mission Sept. 12. Credit: New Shepard webcast

PARIS — A problem with Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle caused an in-flight abort a minute after liftoff Sept. 12, causing a capsule filled with payloads but not people to fire its launch abort motor and parachute to a safe landing.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...