First Private Rocket Goes to Space, Safely Lands on Earth

Private spaceflight company Blue Origin has successfully launched and returned its New Shepard space vehicle in a test flight that could revolutionize spaceflight.

The launch occurred on Monday, and while Blue Origin was previously tight-lipped regarding its rocket development efforts, Bezos decision to join Twitter and the company’s video may symbolizes a fresh media push.

Blue Origin will spend the next few years in testing before sending humans into space, Bezos said.

“Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts – a used rocket”, said Bezos, who is also the owner of The Washington Post. Being able to refly a rocket will slash launch costs, a game-changer for the space industry, Bezos said.

SpaceX has been trying to land one of its rockets on a barge, but it hasn’t worked yet. New Shepard has a crew capsule and a rocket booster by a BE-3 liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen engine.

The test flight was unmanned, but the rocket is topped with a capsule created to carry six. Elon Musk’s company SpaceX aims for similar reuse of its Falcon 9 rocket – which has a proven ability to soar much higher, all the way to low earth orbit.

“This flight validates our vehicle architecture and design”, Bezos wrote. Just prior to landing, the booster re-ignites its BE-3 engine which slows the vehicle to 4.4 miles per hour for a gentle, powered vertical landing, enabling vehicle reuse.

Those keeping track of the commercial space race will recognize this as big news. The video from Blu Origin of the landing also has some simulated footage of a space tourism adventure, though there are no details of when or if this will actually be offered. Now let’s check out today’s voyage of the New Shepard.

That gave Blue Origin’s New Shepard, which only had its first test flight in April, the chance for an upset.

Usually, the rocket would have fallen back to Earth and been unable to complete any more flights.

The rocket landed just 1.4 metres from the centre of the launch pad, Bezos said. It’s being developed for Blue Origin’s orbital launch vehicle and United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan launch system.