Blue Origin’s fully reusable New Shepard space vehicle rolls out to the launch pad at the company’s West Texas launch site.
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In an historic first, the private company founded by Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos has become the first to land a reuseable rocket that’s traveled to and from space. It is the first time a rocket has landed back on Earth without blowing up, which could pave the way to reusable rockets in the near future. The New Shepard rocket flew to space, reached a planned test altitude of 329,839 feet, and stuck a ideal landing at it’s launch site in West Texas.
While this week’s achievement is being celebrated, Bezos said his company plans to fly the vehicle “many, many times and then when we’re completely confident in it, we’re going to start using it to take people into space”.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk congratulated Bezos and the Blue Origin team for yesterday’s flight.
Blue Origin’s initial goal is to develop a space tourism business similar to the one being formed by Virgin Galactic.
Video still from Blue Origin of the November 23, 2015 successful soft landing of its New Shepard rocket.
Wherever Bezos sends rockets, men, or Christmas presents, there is always packaging involved. The capsule deployed its parachutes and drifted to the ground, while the rocket used controlled firings to descend before deploying its landing legs for a triumphant return. The company based in Kent, Wash., said it landed just four-and-a-half feet from the center.
In the past, owner of rival SpaceX Elon Musk has tried to land his rockets upright in test flights but they have never left the atmosphere. The vehicle consisted of two elements, a launcher powered by a single BE-3 rocket engine and a crew capsule.
Bezos took to Twitter on Tuesday to note the milestone.
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The company has launched a You Tube video documenting the take-off, an animated stimulation of what the flight in space will be like and the landing. New Shepard, which consists of a booster rocket and a three person crew capsule, is created to ferry people into low Earth orbit for several minutes and then gently fall back to Earth will the aid of parachutes.
