It was descending at just 4.4 miles per hour when it touched down at the launch site, still standing up, the company said.
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Powered by the company’s own BE-3 engine, the rocket kicked off the launchpad yesterday (Nov. 23) at 11:21 a.m. Central Time, carrying the New Shepard space vehicle.
The rocket reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, landing upright and intact back at the remote launch site near Van Horn, Texas.
However, Musk’s congratulations had a big ‘ol asterisk placed beside it. He rightfully noted that Blue Origin’s launch was a much easier task to accomplish that what SpaceX has attempted in the past. The ability to land vertically is prized because it allows rockets to be reused and may increase the frequency of launches. The X-15 rocket plane, a joint effort of the U.S. Air Force and NASA, traveled 24,000 feet higher in 1963 than New Shepard did on Monday. When Blue Origin is ready for passengers, Bezos said he wants to travel to space and fulfill a boyhood dream.
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”.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle shot up to 329,839 feet or about 62 miles. Blue Origin appears to want to do suborbital tourist flights at first, which requires a smaller rocket.
This is the second full test of the Blue Origin New Shepard booster, which didn’t have a payload on-board this time.
Another U.S. space company, SpaceX, which was started by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing vertical rocket landings as well, but so far its attempts have been unsuccessful.
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The New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Although he didn’t offer an estimate for ticket prices aboard future commercial space flights, Bezos told CBS that he “can’t wait to go”. SpaceX’s Grasshopper test rig – essentially a Falcon 9 first stage with a single Merlin engine -reached an altitude of 744 meters on its eighth and final flight.
