Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space before executing a historic landing back at the launch site in West Texas. (credit: Blue Origin)
Jeff Bezos finally one-upped Elon Musk in space. On Tuesday Bezos' company, Blue Origin, announced its New Shepard space vehicle had ascended to 100.5km and returned successfully to the ground near its West Texas launch site.
"Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts—a used rocket,” said Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, in a statement. “Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard space vehicle flew a flawless mission—soaring to 329,839 feet and then returning through 119mph high-altitude crosswinds to make a gentle, controlled landing just four-and-a-half feet from the center of the pad. Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again.”
Like Blue Origin, Musk's SpaceX is attempting to build a reusable Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 booster, but so far the company's efforts to land its rocket on a mobile, seaborne platform have not been successful. Reusable rockets are considered a game-changer in the rocket industry as most of the cost of spaceflight is not in the fuel, but rather the rocket components. Bezos, Musk ,and other "new space" pioneers believe the best way to open up space is to dramatically lower the costs of getting there.
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