Jeff Bezos's space company, Blue Origin again flew its single-stage suborbital rocket, New Shepard on its 11th flight since 2015, taking another step toward flying space tourists to the edge of space. New Shepard carried a package of microgravity research experiments for NASA aboard its capsule on yesterday's morning launch.
The single-stage rocket took off from Blue Origin's privately-operated launch site North of Van Horn, Texas at 9:35 a.m. EDT (9:35 p.m. GMT+8).
Named after Mercury astronaut and the first American to complete a suborbital flight, Alan Shepard, the rocket climbed into a clear sky powered by a hydrogen-fueled BE-3 main engine, which accelerate the vehicle to a speed of more than 2,200 mph (3,540 kilometers per hour) in less than two-and-a-half minutes.
After the Main Engine Shut Down or MECO, the pressurized crew capsule on top of the vehicle separated from the booster and continued coasting to a maximum altitude of more than 346,000 feet or 105.5 kilometers, according to the preliminary flight data.
The New Shepard booster deployed air brakes as it's slowing down before reigniting its BE-3 engine to slow down for a vertical touchdown on four landing legs about 2 miles from its launch site. Less than 3 minutes later, the capsule landed with the aid of its 3 main parachutes and retro-rockets to complete Blue Origin's 11th suborbital flight since April 2015.
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