Space company Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, said Friday it wants to resume flying its rockets “soon” but will not be able to do so until a formal investigation overseen by the US Civil Aviation Authority is completed. Administration (FAA) about the causes of the accident last year involving the cargo capsule of Blue Origin.

The Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital rocket is used, in particular, by Jeff Bezos’ company for flights intended for space tourism, launched from the American state of Texas, but at the time of the accident in September 2022, only research experiments were conducted on it, Agerpres notes.

The rocket consists of one stage, in the upper part of which there is a capsule that carries the cargo.

During the mission, called NS-23, Blue Origin’s capsule separated from the New Shepard launcher shortly after liftoff after what appeared to be a malfunction in the rocket’s engines.

A little more than a minute after liftoff, the engine area of ​​the New Shepard launcher was engulfed in flames and the capsule’s ejection system activated, landing unharmed with the help of provided parachutes.

After the incident, an investigation was launched under the supervision of the US Civil Aviation Administration to determine the exact cause of this accident.

The investigation “remains open” and flights of the New Shepard rocket will not be able to resume until the investigation is officially closed, the FAA told AFP. “The agency is currently evaluating the company’s report of the incident,” the FAA said.

The company Blue Origin has sent 32 people into space since July 2021, including Jeff Bezos among the passengers of the first flight intended for space tourism.

Blue Origin’s big competitor for this type of suborbital flight is Virgin Galactic. But after the flight of its founder, British billionaire Richard Branson, in July 2021, the space vehicle developed by Virgin Galactic remained on the ground to undergo a series of technological changes.