The booster returned autonomously to a landing pad just north of its launch site, while the capsule freefalls back to Earth with three giant parachutes, and finally a thruster, for a gentle landing in the desert.īlue Origin has remained relatively coy about what comes next. The spacecraft peaks at about 65 miles altitude (106 kilometers), allowing the crew members to admire the curvature of the planet, and the inky black of the rest of the universe. The capsule separated from its booster, and when it got high enough, the astronauts unbuckled and experienced weightlessness for three to four minutes. Notably absent from the flight is the still anonymous winner of a $28 million auction for a seat, who had "scheduling conflicts" and will take part in a future flight.ĭaemen's father, the CEO of a private equity firm, was a runner-up in the bidding, allowing his teenage son to become the company's first paying customer.Īfter lift-off, New Shepard careened towards space at speeds exceeding 2,300 mph (3700 kph) using a liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine whose only byproduct is water vapor. "Today is just the first of many flights to come on New Shepard," Blue Origin's sale director Ariane Cornell said in a livestream, adding ticket sales were now open. Lift-off was slightly delayed and came at 1312 GMT from a remote facility in the west Texas desert called Launch Site One, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the nearest town, Van Horn. New Shepard has flown 15 uncrewed flights to put it through its paces and test safety mechanisms, like firing the capsule away from the launchpad if the rocket explodes, or landing it with one less parachute. Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn and also a Moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson made the voyage on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires.īut Blue Origin's sights are set higher: both in the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard craft will ascend compared to Virgin's spaceplane, but also in its ambitions.īezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live. It was "dark up" there, said barrier-breaking female aviator Wally Funk, one of the four crew along with Bezos, his brother and 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen, who will become the youngest astronaut.
This was Blue Origin's first crewed mission, and coincided with the 52nd anniversary of first Moon landing. The outer space-bound rocket took off from west Texas and travelled beyond the Karman line and back again.Īlso Read: Jeff Bezos's space flight: What if something goes wrong on Blue Origin rocket? The voyage, that lasted for 11 minutes, was a key moment for a fledgling industry seeking to make the final frontier accessible to elite tourists. Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, also the world's wealthiest man, completed his short trip into the space in the rocket flown by his aerospace company Blue Origin on July 20.
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