The FAA said in September that it would review the safety concerns raised by former Blue Origin employees. (file)
Washington:
The US Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it found no safety issues after investigating allegations against Blue Origin’s human spaceflight program.
The FAA said in September that it would review the safety concerns raised by former Blue Origin employees. The FAA said Friday that it was closing its investigation after finding “no specific security issues” and taking no action against billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company.
Alexandra Abrams, former head of Blue Origin Employee Communications, and 20 other unnamed Blue Origin employees and former employees said in an essay that they observed “a pattern of decision-making that is often used to ensure speed of execution and reduction of costs.” Prioritizes proper resource over quality.”
A Blue Origin spokesperson did not immediately comment on Friday, but said in September that Abrams had been fired “two years ago for repeatedly warning about issues related to federal export control rules.”
Abrams told CBS News, which first reported the allegations, never received any warnings related to export control issues.
In July, Bezos climbed about 66.5 miles (107 km) over the Texas desert on a New Shepard launch vehicle in a suborbital flight.
Blue Origin said in September that it “stands by our safety record and believes the New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built.”
The essay states that a 2018 team at Blue Origin “documented more than 1,000 problem reports related to the engines powering Blue Origin’s rockets that were never addressed.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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