Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos one-upped fellow tycoon and rocketman Elon Musk in the race to create the first ever reusable rocket, thanks to the geniuses at his private space company, Blue Origin. Because rocket components are the most expensive part of a rocket launch, the ability to reuse a rocket could drastically reduce the cost of launches.
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“It’s a huge moment for the company – it’s the first time they’ve actually reached space, and it’s the first time they’ve managed to safely return the craft’s six-person crew capsule and its rocket system back to Earth”. Suborbital space is right at the boundary where the gravitational pull from Earth ends and space begins – about 100 km above Earth’s surface.
At the top of its flight, New Shepard released a payload capsule – which itself re-entered safely via parachute.
Flying from the company’s Van Horn launch site in West Texas, the Blue Origin capsule and propulsion module rocketed more than 100 kilometers into the sky, meaning the capsule reached an altitude considered space.
Usually, the rocket would have fallen back to Earth and been unable to complete any more flights. The team designed the rocket to fire its engines during its landing to slow its descent and avoid a crash. In a video posted to YouTube, it appears that they did just that: the company launched a rocket to space, and successfully nailed a vertical landing.
Blue Origin successfully landed a suborbital rocket back at its launch site, a key step in its drive to make reusable rockets, the company said on Tuesday. “Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again”.
While Musk tweets prolifically, Bezos has only tweeted once in his life, Tuesday to announced the success of the Blue Origin flight.
Meanwhile, the booster descended under guided flight to the landing pad.
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This article was originally published by Business Insider.
