{"id":19563,"date":"2015-11-19T23:55:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T15:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-next-flight-test-of-blue-origins-new-shepard-spaceship-should-come-very-soon\/"},"modified":"2015-11-19T23:55:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T15:55:30","slug":"jeff-bezos-says-next-flight-test-of-blue-origins-new-shepard-spaceship-should-come-very-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-next-flight-test-of-blue-origins-new-shepard-spaceship-should-come-very-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos says next flight test of Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard spaceship should come \u2018very soon\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"New
Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard prototype spaceship lifts off from its West Texas launch pad during a test flight in April. (Blue Origin photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even as Jeff Bezos celebrates past achievements in spaceflight, he\u2019s looking forward to seeing his Blue Origin space venture make future achievements.<\/p>\n

The next flight test of Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital spaceship should come \u201cvery soon,\u201d Bezos said today at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight, after a ceremony marking the arrival of historic Saturn V rocket engine parts that his Bezos Expeditions team recovered from the Atlantic two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready and excited to fly again,\u201d Bezos said.<\/p>\n

Bezos is best-known as the billionaire founder of Amazon, the world\u2019s largest online retailer, but for more than a decade, he\u2019s also been funding Blue Origin\u2019s quest to develop lower-cost vehicles for suborbital and orbital flight. The company is headquartered in Kent, Wash., and currently has more than 400 employees, Bezos said.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon as well as Blue Origin, talks about the past and future of spaceflight at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Shepard\u2019s most recent flight test was conducted from Bezos\u2019 West Texas launch range in April. That flight sent an autonomously controlled capsule up to a height of 307,000 feet \u2013 which is close to 328,000 feet (100 kilometers, or 62 miles), the internationally accepted boundary of outer space. The unoccupied crew module parachuted to the ground as planned, but a hydraulic problem led to the loss of the craft\u2019s rocket-powered propulsion module after separation.<\/p>\n

\"pluto\"
\nScience journalist Alan Boyle<\/strong> is the author of “The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made A Big Difference.”<\/p>\n

Bezos didn\u2019t specify the timing of the next test flight, other than to say he hoped it happened soon \u2013 but other statements from Blue Origin suggest the test could come before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The aim for the next flight will be to recover both of New Shepard\u2019s modules, which is in line with Blue Origin\u2019s vision for reusable launch vehicles. Bezos referred to the concept of rocket reusability in his comments about the decades-old F-1 engines that he and his team brought up from the Atlantic\u2019s depths.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first stage is gigantic, it\u2019s expendable. It\u2019s supposed to crash into the ocean,\u201d Bezos pointed out. \u201cThat was the whole plan. We\u2019re working, by the way, on changing that plan. \u2026 We\u2019re trying to make reusable rockets because we don\u2019t like throwing the hardware away. We like to reuse it.\u201d<\/p>\n