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Blue Origin's latest New Shepard test flight hauled NASA experiments
Private aerospace company Blue Origin successfully carried out an uncrewed test flight today, marking the tenth time the Jeff Bezos-backed company has managed to send its reusable New Shepard rocket to space and recover it. This test was particularly noteworthy as the capsule carried eight research and development experiments from NASA.
Blue Origin will perform a high-altitude abort test at 11AM ET (updated)
Today, Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, will perform another test on the sub-orbital New Shepard spacecraft and launch vehicle. This time, the company is looking at pushing the engines to their maximum limits with a high-altitude escape motor test. This will be the ninth test for the system. You can watch the live stream over at Blue Origin's website. The test is scheduled for 11AM ET / 10AM CT, and the webcast will begin around 20 minutes beforehand.
Blue Origin's suborbital flights might cost $200,000 per ticket
Blue Origin still has to launch its first manned flight before it can start taking people to suborbital space. But if you're wondering how much money to save for a trip, the answer could be at least 200 grand. According to Reuters, employees "with first-hand knowledge of the pricing plan" have divulged that a seat on the company's New Shepard system will cost between $200,000 to $300,000. If true, then its pricing will be comparable to Virgin Galactic's, which had already sold trips to suborbital space for $200,000 to $250,000 per person. As for when tickets will become available for purchase, executives revealed at a conference last month that they're planning to sell seats as soon as next year.
Blue Origin completes its highest-ever test flight
Blue Origin's first test flight of 2018 was a success, and then some. After last-minute weather setbacks, Jeff Bezos' outfit completed its eighth New Shepard launch and landing, including a touchdown for the dummy-equipped Crew Capsule 2.0. More importantly, it represented a crucial milestone -- the mission reached an apogee of 351,000 feet, which is both the highest altitude yet and the target for Blue Origin's full-fledged service.
Watch Blue Origin's test dummy experience space tourism
Yesterday we got an exterior view of the first flight for Blue Origin's Crew Capsule 2.0, but now the company is back to show us what it's like from inside. Its plan is to offer "space tourism" trips that take six people at a time beyond the Karman Line to experience weightlessness and views through the capsule's "biggest windows in space." The test capsule isn't looking as polished as the concept images we'd seen before, but this 11-minute video is a pretty good preview of what customers can expect when Blue Origin starts putting real people on top of its New Shepard spacecraft. Plus, according to Jeff Bezos, passengers will be able to get out of their seats to experience zero-g, and on the ground perhaps enjoy the company of this Blue2D2 landing pad robot. Take that, SpaceX drone ship.
Blue Origin tests Crew Capsule 2.0 with 'biggest windows in space'
Jeff Bezos' rocket company isn't quite ready for space tourism, but today's test flight gets it a bit closer. Bezos tweeted that for the first time, Blue Origin has tested version 2.0 of its Crew Capsule, and while he didn't mention how luxurious the test unit is, it does feature "the largest windows in space." Measuring at 2.4 feet wide and 3.6 feet high, they gave the test dummy a great view from 322,405 feet above ground level.
Blue Origin will take you on a (simulated) space ride at Oshkosh
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is displaying its historic New Shepard rocket and offering simulated space rides at the EAA AirVenture convention in Oshkosh. That's the same New Shepard that served as key for the company to beat SpaceX in the reusable rocket race. In November 2015, it flew over the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space before heading back down to become the first rocket to achieve a vertical landing. Blue Origin then used it for four more missions in 2016 to prove that it truly is reusable.
Blue Origin's New Shepard wins prestigious aeronautics award
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket has been winning awards left, right and center, but this one is "personally meaningful" for company chief Jeff Bezos. The reusable rocket has been chosen to receive the Collier Trophy for 2016, presented to those who've made the "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America" for the past year. New Shepard is the latest in the list of impressive awardees, which include Boeing for the 747 and its successors, the Navy for its autonomous X-47B aircraft and NASA JPL for landing Curiosity on Mars.
Blue Origin offers a look inside its tourist rocket's capsule
Blue Origin has given you plenty of glimpses of the outside of its tourism-oriented New Shepard rocket, but what about the inside -- you know, the place where you'll spend all of your time? You now have an idea of what to expect. Jeff Bezos' spaceflight operation has released its first interior photos of New Shepard's capsule, and it's clear that we've come a long way from the days of cramped, utilitarian spacecraft cabins. The windows are enormous (just shy of 43 inches tall), and the interior is relatively spacious. You won't mistake the capsule for a cruise ship, but it's undoubtedly designed for civilian sightseers used to some creature comforts.
Blue Origin lands its reusable rocket a fourth time
Blue Origin's reusable rocket is practically running like clockwork. The private spaceflight outfit has successfully landed its New Shepard rocket a fourth time (during its first-ever live stream), touching down with a seemingly effortless amount of grace. Jeff Bezos and company weren't just showing off, though. They also successfully tested the redundancy of the crew capsule's parachute system, showing that the capsule can survive even if one of the chutes fails. We're still a long way from testing a manned capsule (the windows are still painted on in this version), but it's an important step toward the goal of lower-cost space travel. You can watch the entire replay below -- if you want to cut to the chase, the launch starts around the 1h 2m mark.
Blue Origin will livestream its next launch on June 19th
Jeff Bezos' spaceflight outfit Blue Origin has kept their first three New Shepard rocket launches under wraps in the past, only posting videos and announcements after the the booster safely returned to Earth. But for its fourth test flight, the company will be streaming the whole thing live from its West Texas launch facility.
Blue Origin's next flight will end in a crash-landing
While Blue Origin has shown it can successfully land a reusable rocket multiple times, the space tourism company will hit the ground a little harder on the next test. As Jeff Bezos announced this week, his space venture will intentionally crash the empty crew compartment to see what happens when the parachutes fail.
Watch Blue Origin's third landing from the rocket's point of view
Sure, you can watch reusable rocket landings from the ground as much as you want, but have you wondered what it'd be like if you were strapped to one of those rockets? Blue Origin sure has. Jeff Bezos' spaceflight outfit has released a video showing its third landing from the booster rocket's view (specifically, a vent), starting with the moment before it reenters the atmosphere. What's surprising is how the change in perspective underscores the speed of the whole operation -- you're looking at a dramatic view of Earth in one moment, and the American desert the next. This sort of camera angle will eventually become run-of-the-mill, of course, but it's worth watching while reusable rockets are still novelties.
Blue Origin posts video of its rocket's third flight
Another day, another suborbital spaceflight for Blue Origin's BE-3 rocket booster. The New Shepard reached an altitude of 103km during its third flight yesterday, before the capsule came home via parachute and its engine landed while restarting at about 3,600 feet above the ground. We're still waiting for those promised bigger rockets, but you can get your weekend's video dose of rocketry.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will launch its rocket a third time
Jeff Bezos' rocket company has already shown its product is reusable, but if it's going to launch "space" tourism, it will have to fly many times. As such, Blue Origin is working fly the New Shepard rocket for the third time on Saturday. According to Bezos, this time the engine will restart fast "just" 3,600 feet above the ground, leaving little room for error on its trip home from the edge of space. Plus, the company's previous tests have only been revealed after the fact, so that's another change. Still, we're not expecting any kind of SpaceX-style livestream, but Bezos says there will be drone cameras in place to get an aerial view of the flight. Whether or not it all works as planned, there should be some exciting footage to share so check back here tomorrow. Update: At least two microgravity science experiments will be along for the ride.
Jeff Bezos' space company plans to launch tourist flights by 2018
Blue Origin could be offering commercial suborbital space flights as soon as 2018. Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, has revealed his team's plans for the coming years during an event that showed off Blue Origin's headquarters to the press for the first time. Bezos' space company wasn't making as much noise as, say, SpaceX, until it successfully launched, landed and then actually reused a reusable rocket before anyone else. Clearly, that did wonders for the team's confidence.
Jeff Bezos' first proper test rocket has successfully launched
Elon Musk may be the most famous tech billionaire with an interest in spaceflight, but he's certainly not the only one. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a company, Blue Origin, which is doing similar research into reusable craft to get us to-and-from the heavens. The normally secretive outfit has just revealed that its first test vehicle, New Shepard, made arguably its most important, partially successful test flight yesterday. In the experiment, the priapic craft took an (empty) crew capsule to a height of 307,000 feet before releasing it to float gently back to earth.
Jeff Bezos' spaceship is set to lift off later this year
With the recent completion of its BE-3 engine, the New Shepard space capsule from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin LLC is almost ready for liftoff, the company's president told reporters on Tuesday. "The engine is ready for flight...and ready for other commercial users," Blue Origins president Rob Meyerson said. The New Shepard is designed to carry three passengers and cargo on suborbital spaceflights. This could include deliveries to the International Space Station or using just the motor itself to launch satellites into orbit.
Bezos' New Shepard takes off and escorts itself back to the landing pad (video)
Since being awarded $22 million from NASA to develop a commercial space vehicle, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has been relatively quiet. There's been a couple of test flights, one of which didn't end so well for the water tank-shaped ship, but we haven't actually gotten to see the New Shepard (a nod to Alan Shepard) in action. Well friends, take a gander after the break to see the reusable, suborbital launch vehicle climb a short distance into the air then gracefully settle back down with the aid its landing thrusters. This particular craft is meant to launch a separate passenger capsule on short suborbital flights, but Blue Origin is also working on an orbital vehicle. But, please, don't waste any more time -- go watch the take off and landing below.
Amazon CEO's flying water tank crashes, leaves dent in his space travel dream
In a moment of profound candidness, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has revealed that the mid-air failure of his unmanned spaceship 11 days ago was "not the outcome any of us wanted." The searing truth of his statement is certainly borne out by the fact that NASA has poured millions of dollars of funding into Bezos's space company, Blue Origin, in the hope that it will one day ferry people to the ISS and replace the scuttled shuttle program. Indeed, Blue Origin's latest craft looked every inch a shuttle-beater until it suddenly went berserk at 45,000 feet, forcing the Asimovian onboard computer to cut power and nose dive into the ground in an effort to avoid civilian casualties. Not an ideal result, to be sure, but Jeff is hardly likely to give up on his starry ambitions -- everybody knows he has a thing for thrusters.
