launch.jpg

Blue Origin, a private space company by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has completed a second test flight of a fully reusable rocket.

The company’s reusable New Shepard vehicle flew 333,582ft into the air from the launch pad and deployed a crew capsule. It performed a controlled landing of a spent rocket back on Earth.

The rocket, named after the first American space traveller Alan Shepard, is designed to carry six passengers to altitudes beyond 100km altitude into space.

The rocket has two components, including a crew capsule and rocket booster, which is powered by a BE-3 liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine.

The company launched a similar mission in November 2015.

"Data from the November mission matched our preflight predictions closely, which made preparations for today’s re-flight relatively straightforward."

Bezos said: "Data from the November mission matched our preflight predictions closely, which made preparations for today’s re-flight relatively straightforward.

"The team replaced the crew capsule parachutes, replaced the pyro igniters, conducted functional and avionics checkouts, and made several software improvements, including a noteworthy one.

"Rather than the vehicle translating to land at the exact centre of the pad, it now initially targets the centre, but then sets down at a position of convenience on the pad, prioritising vehicle attitude ahead of precise lateral positioning.

"It is like a pilot lining up a plane with the center line of the runway."

The company is planning additional test missions and validation flights to safely separate the crew capsule in case the rocket snags during its ascent, reported Bloomberg.

In December, Elon Musk’s Space X made its first successful landing of a reusable Falcon 9 rocket on solid ground. However, a similar attempt to land the rocket on a sea platform failed to land on it.

Image: The rocket has two components including a crew capsule and a rocket booster. Photo: courtesy of Blue Origin.