Aumag September 17, 2022
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology appears to have taken an interest in the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation of recent New Shepard booster failure. In a September 15 letter wrote to the FAA, Committee Chairman Donald Beyer, writing on behalf of the House panel, asked that the agency be more open in its investigation and that it brief the subcommittee within the next 10 days.
Because the subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes commercial space launches and re-entry, and also the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, the chairman requested that the FAA keep members of the subcommittee “informed of the plans and schedule for the NS-23 anomaly investigation, the root cause of the failure once determined , and plans to ensure that actions to address the root cause(s) are completed.” The House panel also requested that a briefing be held within 10 days “on the plans and process for the investigation and provide future updates on the investigation’s progress.”
Congress is really up on the FAA’s case on the matter. It obviously wants to ensure that the agency does its due diligence and that an important precedent is set when it comes to regulating the fledgling space tourism industry. The subcommittee, through its close monitoring of the investigation, is also likely trying to ensure that Blue Origin does not get off lightly and that the FAA issues an effective set of corrective actions to make New Origin safe so it can get up and fly again. As for the current attractiveness of Bezos’ space tourism offering, that’s another question entirely.
More:
https://aumag.net/congress-wants-more-information-about-probe-of-blue-origin-rocket-accident/
