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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Becomes First Private Company To Land Reuseable Rocket

“Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again”, Blue Origin founder Bezos wrote in a press release.

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SpaceX, Musk noted, wasn’t even the first to land a rocket.

Jeff Bezos announced the success on Twitter and has told press that the company will fly humans when it’s ready and likely by 2017.

“The second point that I would make is that the SpaceX first stage does an in-space deceleration burn to make their reentry environment more benign”. The future of space travel looks bright and we have companies like Blue Origins and SpaceX to thank for that optimism. He is the CEO of Amazon.com Inc.

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.

Companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are in a race to create the first reusable commercial rocket. Blue Origin is already opening up “early access” to ticket information for potential space tourists.

By the way, SpaceX has been trying to soft-land its main rocket, the Falcon 9, for the past year, also using propulsive landing.

The space vehicle is comprised of two elements, a three-person crew capsule and a rocket booster powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle reached an altitude of 100.5 kilometers and landed back at its West Texas launch site. The BE-3 delivers 110,000 of thrust.

Regardless of the technicalities involved, you can’t take away from what Blue Origins has accomplished.

The capsule – The crew capsule successfully deploys drogue parachutes at 20,045 feet.

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

Musk tweeted out what some call a backhanded compliment on Bezos’ successful launch and landing, saying “It is, however, important to clear up the difference between “space” and “orbit”.

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Nevertheless, Blue Origin’s successful launch and landing is no small feat and a big step toward more accomplishments from the private company and potential space exploration.

Blue Origin