A New Shepard rocket Blue Origin took off this Tuesday Texasa success that marks the return to space of the company founded by the American millionaire Jeff Bezos more than a year after an accident.
Ten minutes after takeoff, the NS-24 unmanned mission capsule, containing scientific material, landed in the desert, according to a live broadcast.
This return to space was necessary so that the company can resume space tourism trips that have already allowed 31 people to spend a few minutes beyond the limit of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The rocket successfully lifted off from West Texas at 16:43 GMT. And its reusable main engine landed safely less than 8 minutes later on the arid plains of the southern United States.
The takeoff, initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed “due to a problem with ground systems”Blue Origin stated on the social network X.
Accident 2022
The mission does not have crew members on board, but rather scientific experiments, more than half of which were developed with the support of NASA.
The capsule containing this equipment landed in the desert with the help of parachutes, 10 minutes after takeoff and after having crossed the limit of space, flying for a few moments up to 107 kilometers above the Earth.
The accident that occurred in September 2022 caused the crash of the rocket’s propulsion module, which at that time was also not carrying passengers.
The US aviation regulator (FAA) opened an investigation, which concluded in September that the accident was caused by “a higher than expected temperature at an engine nozzle.”
In order to resume flights, the FAA asked the company to make changes. For example, modifying the design of certain engine components.
The regulator confirmed to AFP that it had approved the modified flight license submitted by Blue Origin.
New Horizons
In total, the company has carried out six crewed flights (some passengers were paying customers and others flew as guests) since July 2021, when Bezos himself participated in the first of them.
During the time that Blue Origin has been grounded, its rival, Virgin Galactic, founded by British millionaire Richard Branson, has pressed ahead, with five commercial flights this year.
The two companies compete in the emerging space tourism sector, operating in suborbital space.
Blue Origin launches a small rocket vertically. Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic uses a large plane to gain altitude that is assembled with a smaller ship propelled by a rocket that completes the trip to space.
In both cases, passengers enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness and can contemplate the Earth through large windows.
Virgin Galactic tickets sold for between $200,000 and $450,000. Blue Origin does not disclose prices.
Bezos’ company can boast that almost its entire rocket platform is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear and parachutes.
Its engine runs on liquid oxygen and hydrogen, meaning the only byproduct during flight is water vapor, with no carbon emissions.
Blue Origin is also developing a commercial heavy rocket called New Glenn, with its maiden flight scheduled for next year.
Measuring 98 meters tall, this rocket is designed to carry payloads of up to 45 metric tons into low-Earth orbit.
Source: Gestion
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