Blue Origin
Blue Origin reached new heights — literally — Sunday with a successful test launch and landing of its New Shepard 2.0 rocket.
Blue Origin is the private space company founded by Amazon.com Inc. founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos.
Sunday’s test launched the Crew Capsule 2.0 to its highest altitude yet — 351,000 feet, about 66 miles up, Bezos said in a tweet. The capsule carried a dummy astronaut — dubbed Mannequin Skywalker — and science experiments.
Mannequin Skywalker is ready for his 2nd mission on board New Shepard. He’s a little sensitive about being called a “dummy”, as he will be conducting astronaut telemetry and science studies – a very important job! pic.twitter.com/h2ncpGWaTi
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) April 28, 2018
#BlueOrigin #NewShepard TOUCHDOWN! pic.twitter.com/OghFUHGN0K
— Amazing Space (@AmazingSpace2) April 29, 2018
The first successful launch and landing of the reusable New Shepard rocket came in November 2015. Sunday’s test was the eighth overall, and the second launch for that particular rocket.
After launch, the capsule separated from the rocket, which made a vertical landing at its west Texas base. Minutes later, the capsule landed with the aid of parachutes and retrorockets.
The capsule can carry six passengers, and is envisioned to take tourists into low space in the near future. Blue Origin hopes to launch its first manned flight by the end of this year.
Blue Origin is also developing a new, more powerful rocket, the New Glenn, which could compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which made its first launch in February.