Key Takeaways
New Shepherd, the new model, completed the certification mission successfully.
The flight was operating at a somewhat lower altitude of 63.6 miles than typical on this occasion.
Now, Blue Origin is one step closer to realizing its dream of space travel.
Blue Origin successfully completed an uncrewed certification mission on Wednesday, October 23, for its new New Shepard suborbital spacecraft and capsule.
The certification mission was successfully completed by the new model New Sew Shepard suborbital rocket and capsule.
The business described the mission as “nominal and on target,” even though it was operated at a somewhat lower altitude than on prior occasions. It was the spaceship’s second iteration’s first flight.
With Blue Origin’s advancement, Jeff Bezos’ space company can now pursue its goal of more quickly and efficiently doubling the number of visitors it can transport to suborbital space and back.
The imaginary border that is regarded as the edge of space at a height of 100 kilometers (62 miles) is the inspiration behind the naming of the RSS Karman Line capsule. It launched from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch facility on Wednesday at 8:27 AM Pacific.
Although it was the 27th New Shepard capsule flight since 2015, all previous missions have used the RSS First Step, which has carried 43 people to the edge of space since crewed missions began three years ago.
Additional Payload Capacity Helped RSS Karman
After two prior unsuccessful efforts on October 7 and October 13 due to technical difficulties—the latter of which was additionally hampered by a GPS problem—RSS Karman Line succeeded.
About four minutes after liftoff, the booster—which isn’t named because multiples can be carried—separated from the capsule, and six minutes later, the capsule returned to Earth by parachute.
Later confirmation showed that the capsule traveled 63.6 miles, which is somewhat less than the typical range of 65.2 to 66.5 miles for New Shepherd missions.
“It’s a new day, a new dawn, a new booster, and a new crew capsule,” Maggie McNeece of Blue Origin cried out during a launch livestream.
The business used new improvements, like the booster’s increased payload capacity, to maximize performance with Karman Line. Five payloads were carried by this one, and the capsule could hold another seven.
