Blue Origin close to human space flight with 14th New Shepard test

Paris, 15 January 2021. – Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has successfully launched and landed back its 14th New Shepard test vehicle and also brought back the capsule intended to offer human trips to the edge of space.

The New Shepard lifted off from Blue Origin’s West Texas test site yesterday, with the upgraded RSS First Step passenger capsule on board.

It reached an altitude of more than 100 kilometers before the booster turned round and landed back on the launch site. The capsule, which is supposed to transport a handful of passengers, was parachuted back to Earth shortly after and landed in the Texas desert.

It was the 14th test flight of New Shepard. Blue Origin now sees itself getting close to flying humans into space. The upgraded test flight’s capsule was fully equipped with seats, communication, sound, environmental control and air condition systems.