Bezos and others claim that reusable rockets could greatly lower the cost of access to space. Amazon (AMZN) founder Bezos started his space company, Blue Origin, in the hopes of using his New Shepard rocket to carry tourists into space. "Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts -- a used rocket," Bezos said. "Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again," Bezos added. Other companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX have attempted to land rocket stages coming back from space before, although Musk's rocket company hasn't yet attempted to land the first stage of their Falcon 9 on land after flying a payload to space. SpaceX has attempted to land their Falcon 9 rockets on a drone ship in the ocean after to orbit, although those tests have not yet been totally successful. According to a thrilling new video released by Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company launched its New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then land it back on the planet during the vehicle's first successful uncrewed reusability test Monday. "The vision for Blue [Origin] is pretty simple," Bezos said during a media roundtable in September. Bezos' fellow charismatic spaceflight enthusiast and rocket company owner Elon Musk sent some words of congratulation (and a few words of clarification) to Blue Origin Tuesday via Twitter. Congrats to Jeff Bezos and the BO team for achieving VTOL on their booster — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 
 
 It is, however, important to clear up the difference between "space" and "orbit", as described well by https://t.co/7PD42m37fZ — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 
 
 Getting to space needs ~Mach 3, but GTO orbit requires ~Mach 30. pic.twitter.com/6j9ERKCNZl — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 
 
 All three companies have had setbacks in their efforts to carry people into space. The rocket's engines reignited at 5,000 feet above ground to slow descent, and it was traveling at only 4.4 mph during its final 100 feet. The New Shepard's engine kicked back on about 5,000 feet above its landing pad and, after some maneuvering, and deploying its landing legs, the rocket made a soft touchdown back on Earth. The capsule — the part of the craft designed to eventually carry six people to suborbital space — then gently landed back on Earth after deploying its parachutes, but the rocket had a different path to the ground.
– Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space firm beat Elon Musk's SpaceX to the punch and launched its Blue Shepard reusable rocket into outer space, then returned to its landing pad in its "first successful uncrewed reusability test," Mashable reports. The BE-3 rocket and empty crew capsule flew to a suborbital height of about 62 miles, at which point the capsule and rocket separated, Engadget reports. The capsule landed on Earth with the help of parachutes, the rocket's engines roared back to life about 5,000 feet above the landing pad, and the rocket touched down at 4.4mph. "Rockets have always been expendable," Bezos wrote in a Monday blog post. "Not anymore. Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts, a used rocket." Bezos also tweeted a video of the event Tuesday morning, noting "Controlled landing not easy, but done right, can look easy." Bezos notes how reusable rockets could economize space travel, telling CNNMoney that current space travel is akin to airlines throwing out every 747 jet after it makes a cross-country journey. "You can imagine how expensive your ticket would be," he notes. Elon Musk tweeted kudos Tuesday, posting, "Congrats to Jeff Bezos and the BO team for achieving VTOL on their booster," though he turned that compliment into a backhanded one with a tweet that read, "It is, however, important to clear up the difference between 'space' and 'orbit.'" His point: that even though SpaceX's rockets have yet to nail an upright landing after leaving Earth's atmosphere, at least his rockets leave the atmosphere—a task requiring 10 times more speed and 100 times the energy of suborbital rockets, per CNN. But Bezos says he doesn't even consider Musk's company, or Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, to be competitors. "I think of our competition primarily as Earth's gravity," he says. "Space is a big place. There's room for all of us." (The last Virgin Galactic launch didn't go well.)