![]() ![]() A slate of those launches will be awarded this year, but Blue Origin is years late in delivering engines ready to be attached to the rocket and tested. In 2014, the United Launch Alliance chose to use two BE-4s in the main stage of its future Vulcan Centaur rocket, being built as competitor for national security launches. ![]() ![]() Company officials say the development of the BE-3 used in today’s launch is the direct forebear of the BE-4, especially when it comes to lessons learned during its manufacture. It promises 2,400 kN of thrust with the BE-3’s ability to throttle deeply. It’s a revolutionary design, being the first liquefied natural gas fueled rocket engine ever developed. This is the birthplace of the engine, designed by Blue Origin for heavy lift launches. Having the oldest and youngest space fliers on board provided a narrative beyond more than just the beaming Bezos brothers. So for Blue Origin, including Daemen was a shrewd way to keep an eye on the future while celebrating the past. And Bezos isn’t even the first billionaire to get into space this month, since Richard Branson boarded his Virgin Galactic vessel during an air-launch to nearly 90 kilometers on July 11. Blue Origin wants to call this their first commercial flight, and Oliver Daemen is their first paying commercial customer.”ĭaemen is not the first tourist to reach space billionaire Charles Simonyi beat him with trips to the International Space Station in 20 at a total cost of $60 million. “But I’m not surprised they chose Oliver Daemen once the auction winner was unavailable. “I’m a little surprised Blue Origin decided not to fly a scientist or a member of its own staff,” says Laura Seward Forczyk, owner of space consulting firm Astralytical. “There is nothing for a crew to do.” Any evaluation of the flight characteristics from within the capsule will be supplied by the only company staffer on board: Jeff Bezos. “We didn’t see any value, because the vehicle is automated,” Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said. “It felt a lot cooler than it looks,” said Daeman after the launch.īlue Origin/Handout/Anadolu Agency // Getty ImagesĬompany engineers could have flown to evaluate the craft for future improvements, but declined. Clumsily inverted, writhing in the absence of gravity, the footage seems silly. While in space, the quartet cavorted, throwing skittles and small soft spheres. Over the radio, various hoots, giggles, and gales of laughter could be heard from those onboard. The four passengers in the capsule experienced 3 to 4 minutes of microgravity weightlessness, unbelted from their seats and staring out of the largest windows ever installed on a spacecraft. The supercharged liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen engine reached more than 1 million horsepower, lofting the space capsule before the pair separated. The rush of engine noise and steadily climbing airspeed belied this illusion, based on comparisons to beefier orbital vehicles. New Shepard took off from the privately built spaceport Launch Site One, located in a nearly depopulated stretch of desert 120 miles east of El Paso.īlue Origin Handout/Anadolu Agency // Getty ImagesĪt launch, the New Shepard’s single BE-3 engine sparked to life, lifting the 60-foot rocket in what appeared from 3 miles away as a gentle, slow ascent to the sky. The four passengers formed the breathing payload of the first launch of a privately funded spacecraft with people onboard. “Best day ever!” Jeff Bezos cried while in flight, close to the flight’s 107-kilometer apogee. The crew aboard New Shepard, Blue Origin’s reusable rocket-company founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, 82-year-old Mercury 17 astronaut candidate Wally Funk, and 18-year-old paying customer Oliver Daemen-made the 11-minute flight to and from the edge of space. We will continue to update this story with new information and dispatches from Launch Site One throughout the day.Ī rocket propellant and champagne flowed freely in West Texas today as Blue Origin celebrated its historic first flight with passengers, vaulting four people-including the world’s richest man-into suborbital space. Popular Mechanics contributing writer Joe Pappalardo is in Van Horn, Texas today to watch Jeff Bezos and three other passengers ride in the first human spaceflight for Blue Origin. ![]()
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