Blue Origin have released the findings of their NS-23 midflight abort. In this they found that a “thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle” was the cause for the abort. This turned out to be a fatigue failure of the nozzle of the BE-3 after it was found that the temperatures were higher than expected around the nozzle.
However after this failure of the BE-3 the capsule successfully aborted from the booster as Blue Origin keep the abort systems even for non-crewed flights leading to the successfull recovery of the capsule and all 36 payloads onboard.
Also during the report the seperated segment of nozzle was found safely within the designated safety area along with the remains of the booster after it fell on its balistic trajectory.
Going forward Blue Origin are making changes to the nozzle to “improve structural performance under thermal and dynamic loads” which should prevent the risk of a similar event happening again.
Update (24/03/23 – 20:00 UTC):
It has been confirmed by the FAA that while Blue Origin have released the infomation they have not yet closed the launch mishap report, it is required for the investigation to be completely complete prior to New Shepard returning to flight with a reflight of the NS-23 payloads.
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