Blue Origin’s New Shepard Just Became the First Successful Reusable Rocket

With the successful launch and landing of its reusable rocket, Blue Origin not only exorcised its own demons by rebounding from a failed landing in April due to hydraulic issues, but also beat competitor SpaceX – founded by Elon Musk – to the punch.

After that, it was time for the crew to watch as the rocket came plummeting back to Earth. On each test flight the rockets have tipped over when attempting a platform landing.

Move over, SpaceX, because Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin just achieved the first successful landing of a reusable rocket.

Along with the tweet, he posted a video of Blue Origin’s New Shepard reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet and then successfully landing. “Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again”, said Bezos in a press release on Tuesday. In what appears to be his first ever tweet, Bezos wrote, “The rarest of beasts – a used rocket”.

The vehicle is made up of two separate units, a crew capsule in which the astronauts ride and a rocket booster powered by a single American-made BE-3 liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen engine.

At liftoff, the BE-3 delivers 110,000 pounds of thrust.

As the vehicle careens into space, the Astronauts inside experience thrice the force of gravity. The craft’s capsule lands via parachute.

But it was the rocket booster’s landing that prompted celebration at Blue Origin.

The New Shepard rocket just prior to touchdown.

The vehicle was launched at 11:21 a.m. Central time.

The spacecraft reached an altitude of 329,839 feet, just passing through the internationally-recognized threshold of 62 miles for space in a test flight Monday. At this point, the vehicle was under Mach 3.72. It slowed its descent by firing its engine, starting at about 4,900 feet above ground.

NEW YORK (AP) – A private space company announced Tuesday that it had landed a rocket upright and gently enough to be used again, a milestone in commercial aeronautics.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been trying, but so far failing, to pull off the same safe-landing part.