Jan 14, 2021 - Science
Blue Origin launches test of its suborbital space system
Miriam Kramer, author of Space
The New Shepard takes flight. Photo: Blue Origin
Blue Origin's New Shepard space system, designed to one day take paying customers to suborbital space, took flight from Texas on Thursday for an uncrewed test.
Why it matters: The company — founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos — is inching closer to launching its first customers.
Details: The launch marked the first test for an upgraded New Shepard capsule, equipped with temperature regulation, display panels and speakers with a microphone for future customers.
It was also the first flight for this particular New Shepard booster.
Blue Origin also flew "Mannequin Skywalker" — its flight test dummy — aboard the capsule to monitor the stresses future fliers might face.
The rocket landed back on Earth while the capsule came back to the ground under parachutes after reaching more than 350,000 feet in altitude.
The big picture: Blue Origin isn't the only company working to get a piece of the suborbital space tourism market.
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is developing a space plane that will fly people to the edge of space and bring them back home.
Rebecca Falconer
Virgin Orbit launches satellites into space
The Virgin Orbit "Cosmic Girl," carrying a LauncherOne rocket under it's wing, takes off for the Launch Demo 2 mission from Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, on Sunday/ Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket reached space and successfully deployed 10 payloads for NASA's Launch Services Program on Sunday, Richard Branson's company announced.
Why it matters: Per Axios' Miriam Kramer, Virgin Orbit is one of several private spaceflight companies aiming to capitalize on what they believe is a boom in demand for small spacecraft launches.