The company Blueorigin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, successfully carried out its fourth manned spaceflight on Thursday, a ten-minute pleasure trip beyond the planet’s atmosphere.
The New Shepard suborbital rocket blasted off from the company’s Launch Site One base in western Texas at 8:58 local time with six people on board.
The team included Gary Lai, chief architect of the program New Shepardand five clients who paid an undisclosed sum for the trip.
“I felt my skin tighten,” Lai said, of the rocket ride.
Lai’s inclusion came after the participation of comedian Pete Davidson, boyfriend of the reality TV star, was cancelled, without disclosing the reason. kim kardashian.
After launch, the zero greenhouse gas emission reusable rocket landed vertically on a platform, while the capsule continued to fly, crossing the line karmawhich marks the beginning of space, 100 kilometers high.
Passengers unbuckled their seat belts and enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule re-entered the atmosphere, it deployed its parachutes and floated back to the surface for a soft desert landing.
Previous Blue Origin flights have involved the company’s owner, Jeff Bezos, as well as the icon of Star Trek William Shatner.
The sector of spacial tourism is finally taking off.
Lai explained to reporters that the company was continuing to make technical improvements to the vehicle with the aim of reducing costs and the time between flights.
“Someday they will see us perform a launching every week,” he said.
Next week, the company SpaceX, from Elon Muskplans to take three tycoons and a former astronaut to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-1 mission.