Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is a step closer to launching tourists into space after his rocket firm Blue Origin completed its ninth successful test flight today.
The New Shepard spacecraft launched from Blue Origin’s test site in west Texas at just after 11:00am ET (4:00pm BST) carrying a bundle of science experiments, including a satellite system to bring Wifi to space, as well as a dummy named ‘Mannequin Skywalker’ aboard an escape pod.
The flight analysed New Shepard’s escape pod facilities in the vacuum of space for the first time, as well as technology for spacesuits and medical supplies ahead of the company’s first manned test launch later this year.
Bezos has said he intends to send paying customers to space as early as 2019, with tickets costing upwards of £230,000 ($300,000) for a suborbital trip that grants them just a few minutes of weightlessness.
The main booster rocket module returned to Earth for the third successful time, shortly followed by the escape pod.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is a step closer to launching tourists into space after his rocket firm Blue Origin completed its ninth successful test flight today
The main booster rocket module (left) then returned to Earth for the third successful time, shortly accompanied by the escape pod carrying a dummy named ‘Mannequin Skywalker’
The experimental equipment included a Mu Space payload from Thailand, a SoleStar Wifi in space kit, a Granular Anisotropic Gases (Gaga) which gathers granular gases, dilute collections of solid grains.
Nasa also including a payload including the Suborbital Flight Experiment Monitor-2 from the Johnson Space Center in houston and and electromagnetic field experiment from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, as well as a vibration isolation platform data logger from Controlled Dynamics.
Today’s flight, New Shepard’s second of the year from Blue Origin’s test site in Van Horn, Texas, carried the personal belongings of some of its employees under the ‘fly my stuff’ scheme.
The programme could one day see members of the public pay hefty sums to send small, sentimental items such as photographs into space – an idea first proposed by American space technology start-up Bigelow Aerospace.
As well as employee trinkets, New Shepard carried a number of scientific experiments to leverage the few moments of microgravity experienced by the capsule.
The New Shepard spacecraft launched from Blue Origin’s test site in west Texas at just after 11:00am ET (4:00pm BST) carrying a bundle of science experiments. Rocket pictured just before liftoff
Blue Origin’s payload including a satellite system to bring Wifi to space, as well as a dummy named ‘Mannequin Skywalker’ aboard an escape pod. This image shows the craft just seconds before its engine’s fired
Today’s flight, New Shepard’s second of the year from Blue Origin’s test site in Van Horn, Texas, also carried the personal belongings of some of its employees under the ‘fly my stuff’ scheme. This image shows the engines moments after firing
Research projects – paid for by commercial companies, universities and space agencies including Nasa – tested the capacity to send a Wi-Fi signal in space as well as textiles for future space suits and medical supplies.
Blue Origin, headquartered in Kent, Washington, also loaded the capsule with technologies to monitor conditions during flight, such as magnetic fields, pressure, temperature and noise levels.
The firm said prior to launch that the capsule would undergo a ‘high-altitude escape motor test,’ which would involve ‘pushing the rocket to its limits’.
Blue Origin confirmed the successful launch to its followers on Twitter. A spokesman said: ‘Escape motor fired. Let’s see how New Shepard responds in this extreme test.’
Blue Origin confirmed the successful launch to its followers on Twitter. A spokesman said: ‘Escape motor fired. Let’s see how New Shepard responds in this extreme test’
The New Shepard spacecraft launched from Blue Origin’s test site in west Texas at just after 11:00am ET (4:00pm BST) carrying a bundle of science experiments as well as a dummy named ‘Mannequin Skywalker’ aboard an escape pod, which will be tested in the vacuum of space for the first time. Pictured is the rocket on Tuesday evening prior to launch
The New Shepard spacecraft launched from Blue Origin’s test site in west Texas at 10:00am ET (3:00pm BST) carrying a bundle of science experiments as well as a dummy named ‘Mannequin Skywalker’. Pictured is the rocket as it was carried toward its launchpad prior to today’s launch from Van Horn, Texas
New Shepard’s capsule will carry passengers atop a 60-foot-long (18m) rocket to an altitude of around 62 miles (100km) when it will detach and continue on its trajectory for several miles. After a few minutes of weightlessness, during which passengers can take in the view through large windows, the capsule gradually falls back to earth under three large parachutes
It did not say precisely what the test would involve.
Blue Origin will fly up to six space tourists into space at a time using its New Shepard vehicle.
Like those pioneered by SpaceX, the space vehicle will be reusable and is designed to be used for multiple flights.
New Shepard’s capsule will carry passengers atop a 60-foot-long (18m) rocket to an altitude of around 62 miles (100km) when it will detach and continue on its trajectory for several miles.
Bezos has said he intends to send paying customers to space as early as 2019, with tickets costing upwards of £230,000 ($300,000) for a suborbital trip that grants them just a few minutes of weightlessness. Pictured is the Blue Origin team before today’s launch
After a few minutes of weightlessness, during which passengers can take in the view through large windows, the capsule gradually falls back to earth with three large parachutes and retrorockets used to slow the spacecraft.
From take-off to landing, the flight took 10 minutes during the latest test.
Until now, tests have only been carried out using dummies at Blue Origin’s West Texas site.
Company officials were recently quoted as saying the first tests with Blue Origin astronauts would take place ‘at the end of this year,’ with tickets for the public expected to go on sale in 2019.
Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its ninth rocket test flight from West Texas on Wednesday; Bezos is shown here at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system during the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 5, 2017
It was revealed last week that tickets could cost customers up to £230,000 ($300,000).
One Blue Origin employee with first-hand knowledge of the pricing plan told Reuters that the company will start selling tickets in the range of about £150,000 to £230,000 ($200,000 to $300,000.)
A second employee confirmed tickets would cost a minimum of £150,00 ($200,000).
Both sources were speaking on a condition of anonymity, since the pricing strategy is highly confidential.
Speaking in May, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said ticket prices had not yet been decided.
Experts believe the ticket price is not high enough to make the space tourism venture profitable, with aerospace analyst Marco Caceres estimating that each launch will lose millions for the firm.
The rumoured Blue Origin ticket prices are in line with Sir Richard Branson’s rival company Virgin Galactic, which has already sold 650 tickets priced at £190,500 ($250,000) despite not having a launch date for its space voyages.