MIAMI: Blue Origin, the aerospace company headed by Amazon.com chief Jeff Bezos, ran a successful test Wednesday of an emergency escape function, aimed at saving space travelers’ lives in case of catastrophe. “The booster was never designed to survive an in-flight escape,” Bezos wrote in a blog post before the launch, noting that prior to Wednesday’s launch, the booster had already been flown four times. “The capsule escape motor will slam the booster with 70,000 pounds of off-axis force delivered by searing hot exhaust.”

However, cheers erupted at mission control as the somewhat scorched and battered looking booster made its way back to Earth as if in reverse, its engines firing as it hovered over the ground and gradually set itself down, upright. The spectacular in-flight test appeared to go perfectly and was immediately declared a success as the New Shepard rocket booster and capsule separated high in the sky and later touched down one after the other, undamaged. This would have been a pity, as the rocket has flown four previous missions and successfully landed each time.
Aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin tests its New Shepard reusable launch system in Van Horn, Texas.