Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin Launches 12th Test Flight of Space Tourism Rocket x4o1d Technology News

The Blue Origin rockets, tested since 2015, are re-usable, unlike those from the early spaceflight era. 394a19

By Agence -Presse | Updated: 12 December 2019 16:15 IST

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin Launches 12th Test Flight of Space Tourism Rocket

Photo Credit: Twitter/ Blue Origin 4l172j

The rockets, tested since 2015, are re-usable, unlike those from the early spaceflight era

Highlights

Blue Origin launched the 12th crewless test of its New Shepard rocket
The rocket will one day carry six astronaut engers
The trip will last for 10 minutes and cost half a million dollars

ment

Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, launched the 12th crewless test of its New Shepard rocket on Wednesday, pushing the first flights with engers to 2020. The 60-foot-long (18-meter) suborbital rocket reached an altitude of 65 miles (105 kilometers), according to preliminary information, crossing the internationally recognized boundary of space known as the Karman line.

A capsule affixed to its summit will one day carry six astronaut engers on a trip that lasts a total of 10 minutes and at a cost of half a million dollars.

The rockets, tested since 2015, are re-usable, unlike those from the early spaceflight era. The one which flew on Wednesday had already completed five previous launches.

The booster fired its engines and made a controlled, upright landing back on Earth, while the capsule floated down to the ground minutes later aided by three parachutes, touching down in a cloud of dust.

The company had targeted late 2019 for its first flights with engers on board, but that goal now appears all but impossible.

The other company engaged in the race for space tourism is Richard Branson, which hopes to carry engers to the boundary of space in a plane-shaped vessel that is dropped from a Boeing 747 jumbo jet at a high altitude.

Virgin has also said it is targeting 2020 for its first scheduled flights.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.