Skip to main content

Jeff Bezos pulls his best Dr. Evil impression with his very first rocket launch

SpaceX’s Elon Musk isn’t the only high-profile CEO that’s dead-set on reaching outer space. As you may or may not be aware, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in the space race as well, and earlier this week his burgeoning aerospace company Blue Origin successfully launched its first suborbital rocket.

“Today we flew the first developmental test flight of our New Shepard space vehicle,” the company said in a press release. “Our 110,000-lbf thrust liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen BE-3 engine worked flawlessly, powering New Shepard through Mach 3 to its planned test altitude of 307,000 feet. Guidance, navigation and control was nominal throughout max Q and all of ascent. The in-space separation of the crew capsule from the propulsion module was perfect.”

First Flight

But it didn’t quite go off without a hitch. Liftoff and ascent went swimmingly, and the crew capsule was safely returned to Earth, but Blue Origin was unable to retrieve the New Shepard’s propulsion module on descent. Much like SpaceX, Blue Origin is on a mission to develop rockets that can be landed safely and reused for subsequent missions — a feat that would dramatically decrease the cost of space travel.

The New Shepard’s first stage is designed to be fully reusable, and touch down with same vertical takeoff/vertical landing (VTVL) technique that SpaceX uses for it’s Falcon 9 rockets, but unfortunately the company failed to retrieve the thruster module due to an unexpected loss of pressure in the rocket’s hydraulic system.

Let’s not forget, however, that this was the company’s first attempt. According to a statement from Bezos, Blue Origin has “already been in work for some time on an improved hydraulic system,” and that “assembly of propulsion module serial numbers 2 and 3 is already underway.”

307,000 Feet

Toward the end of his statement, Bezos went on to mention that the company also has plans for an even bigger rocket. “We’re already designing New Shepard’s sibling, her Very Big Brother — an orbital launch vehicle that is many times New Shepard’s size and is powered by our 550,000-lbf thrust liquefied natural gas, liquid oxygen BE-4 engine,” he said.

Looks like Blue Origin might just give SpaceX a run for its money.

Drew Prindle
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…
Blue Origin confirms target date for maiden flight of New Glenn rocket
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.

Blue Origin has confirmed that it is targeting no earlier than October 13 for the maiden flight of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket on a mission bound for Mars.

The spaceflight company, set up in 2000 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has up to now only flown the single-stage suborbital New Shepard rocket, so the move to the considerably more powerful and complex New Glenn is a big one.

Read more
Is this the most beautiful rocket launch ever?
A Falcon 9 rocket launches from California.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has shared a video of an astonishingly beautiful Falcon 9 launch.

It shows the start of the NROL-186 mission, which took place last week and deployed next-generation spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

Read more
SpaceX all set for a record-breaking rocket launch on Friday
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches in February 2023.

UPDATE: SpaceX set a new record on Friday night by launching and landing a Falcon 9 booster for the 20th time. The original article is included below SpaceX's update on the mission:

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1778964313845506535

Read more