Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos, has successfully launched its first flight of 2022, sending six tourists to the edge of space after nearly a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The six passengers included paying customers and one of Blue Origin’s own employees. They flew aboard the company’s New Shepard rocket, which was designed to carry up to six people on a short, high-altitude trip to the edge of space.
The flight took off from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site and lasted about 10 minutes in total. The six tourists experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and remarkable views of Earth before the capsule descended back down under parachutes.
This mission marks a successful resumption for Blue Origin’s space tourism operations, after the global health crisis and other technical issues led to multiple postponements. This also demonstrates the growing demand and interest in commercial space travel.
Blue Origin competes with other private spaceflight companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, which are also working towards making space tourism a commercially viable industry.
Blue Origin launches six tourists to the edge of space after nearly two-year hiatus
Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos, has successfully launched its first flight of 2022, sending six tourists to the edge of space after nearly a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The six passengers included paying customers and one of Blue Origin’s own employees. They flew aboard the company’s New Shepard rocket, which was designed to carry up to six people on a short, high-altitude trip to the edge of space.
The flight took off from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site and lasted about 10 minutes in total. The six tourists experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and remarkable views of Earth before the capsule descended back down under parachutes.
This mission marks a successful resumption for Blue Origin’s space tourism operations, after the global health crisis and other technical issues led to multiple postponements. This also demonstrates the growing demand and interest in commercial space travel.
Blue Origin competes with other private spaceflight companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, which are also working towards making space tourism a commercially viable industry.
