"Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts, a used rocket. Not anymore," stated a blog post on the company's website, written by founder Jeff Bezos, the billionaire who also founded. No other agency or company has successfully landed a reusable rocket before. This soft landing means the rocket can be used for more flights, which Blue Origin and other companies have said will significantly drive down the cost of spaceflight. In the past, a spent rocket would fall back to Earth like a stone, having completed its one and only flight.īut Blue Origin's rocket didn't fall aimlessly back to Earth instead, it was guided toward a landing pad, where it re-ignited its engines, hovered briefly above the ground and finally touched down softly on the pad, remaining upright and intact. Shortly after liftoff, the rocket separated from the vehicle. The stunning feat was captured in an amazing test flight video released by the company. Central Time, carrying the New Shepard space vehicle. Powered by the company's own BE-3 engine, the rocket kicked off the launchpad yesterday (Nov. This was the 5th flight of New Shepard rocket vehicle 2, and possibly the 6th flight of the first Crew Capsule.The private spaceflight company Blue Origin just launched itself into the history books by successfully flying and landing a reusable rocket. Before launch it was expected that the in-flight abort separation of the capsule would destroy the booster rocket but in the event the rocket's flight did not appear to be affected. Which normally separates at apogee, instead fired its pusher abort motors 45 seconds after launchĪt an altitude of 4.9 km, reaching an apogee of 7.0 km and landing 4min16s after launch. On this mission the New Shepard crew capsule, Impacted in West Texas.īlue Origin flew the New Shepard rocket vehicle from the West Texas launch site to an apogee of 93.7 km and landed it nearby 7min29s after launch. Impacted in West Texas.Īpogee: 101 km (62 mi). It's not clear whether this was the same crew capsule as in earlier flights.Īpogee: 103 km (64 mi). The crew capsule separated near apogee and was recovered by parachute. Blue Origin reflew the second NS propulsion module to 101.7 km and successfully landed it. The crew capsule landed nearby on a parachute.Īpogee: 101 km (62 mi). The booster was recovered in a controlled vertical rocket landing, the first such successful landing on the Earth's surface following an exoatmospheric flight. ![]() Video and pictures issued indicated that the test vehicle was a subscale (about 84%) version of the final manned vehicle and that it used a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant rocket engines in place of the hydrogen peroxide/kerosene engines planned for the production vehicle.īlue Origin's New Shepard vehicle carried its prototype crew capsule to 100.5 km altitude, the booster reaching 100.4 km. The launch, delayed twice for winds, came at the end of a three-day FAA-approved window. The test vehicle, dubbed Goddard, lifted off and landed vertically, and reached 90 m altitude. ![]() First test launch of New Shepard subscale prototype. ![]() Location: Corn Ranch, Culberson County, Texas. ![]() The launch pad covered 3,000 square meters the landing pad would be located 6.1 km north of it.ĪKA: Corn Ranch. The spaceport included a vehicle processing facility, a launch complex, vehicle landing and recovery area, an astronaut training facility, lodging, and other support facilities. The launch point would be 8 kilometers west of Highway 54. Commercial space passenger service would be conducted from a private spaceport at the 165,000-acre Corn Ranch, 40 kilometers north of Van Horn, west Texas. Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9Ī- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Zīlue Origin was founded and funded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of.
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