Blue Origin will launch this weekend with livestream
We haven't heard much in the last several months from Blue Origin, the private aerospace company owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, but that's finally going to change this weekend. After a successful test flight of its Crew Capsule 2.0 back in December, Blue Origin will conduct another test launch of its New Shepard rocket this weekend, making it the eighth overall and the first of 2018. Even better is that the whole thing will be watchable via livestream.
Bezos revealed on Twitter that the target launch window starts this Sunday at 9:30am Eastern. The New Shepard reusable rocket will launch from Blue Origin's test facility in Texas, with Bezos adding that details for the livestream will also be shared.
Launch preparations are underway for New Shepard's 8th test flight, as we continue our progress toward human spaceflight. Currently targeting Sunday 4/29 with launch window opening up at 830am CDT. Livestream info to come. @BlueOrigin #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/zAYpAGWB8C
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 27, 2018
The Blue Origin flight in late December saw the company testing its Crew Capsule 2.0, a pod designed to carry passengers to the edge of space before slowly drifting back to Earth for a parachute landing. The test was a success for both the capsule, which reached a height of 320,000 feet above ground level, and the rocket booster, which made a ground-based landing after separating from the pod.
Blue Origin differs from Elon Musk's SpaceX company is that its main goal is space tourism rather than sending rockets deep into space. Bezos & co. hope to launch their first manned flight by next year, depending on how this year's continued testing goes. Once they move to consumer flights, Blue Origin aims to give passengers an experience that includes roughly 4 minutes of weightlessness.
SOURCE Jeff Bezos