Blue Origin launches and lands the 13th test flight of its space tourism rocket New Shepard – CNBC

[The stream above has ended. A replay of the stream is readily available]

Blue Origin launches a New Shepard rocket from its center in Texas.

The objective did not have guests on board, although New Shepard releases with a capsule on top that is designed to bring as many as six individuals for an objective. Understood as NS-13, this mission was the 13th test flight of the system– along with a record seventh successive launch for the rocket booster bring the pill, as it has actually landed six times after previous objectives.

NS-13 was initially scheduled to release on Sept. 24, but an issue with the rockets power supply delayed the mission.

Jeff Bezos area company Blue Origin on Tuesday conducted the current test flight of its rocket New Shepard at its center in the West Texas desert.

Blue Origin|gif by @thesheetztweetz

Blue Origin last conducted a test flight of New Shepard in December 2019. As the company flew three New Shepard flights in 2015, the nine month hiatus is uncommon– but Blue Origin got internal push back from employees when it prepared to perform an objective shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic started in the U.S., The Verge reported in April. At the time, Blue Origin told The Verge that it was monitoring the coronavirus issue and holds “security as our highest worth.”

The company has yet to fly passengers on its rockets, with CEO Bob Smith previously this year saying the companys New Shepard rocket will require to fly 3 or 4 more test flights before it puts people on board.

Bezos personally funds Blue Origins development by offering part of his stock in Amazon. While he has previously stated that he offers about $1 billion of Amazon shares yearly to money the area company, Bezos has actually just recently increased his stock sales, selling more than $7.2 billion worth this year and $2.8 billion in 2019– recommending he has increased his annual investment in Blue Origin.

Sensing units for NASAs lunar landing technology demonstration are seen installed near the top of Blue Origins New Shepard rocket booster.

Blue Origin last carried out a test flight of New Shepard in December 2019. As the business flew 3 New Shepard flights last year, the 9 month hiatus is uncommon– however Blue Origin got internal push back from staff members when it prepared to conduct an objective shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic started in the U.S., The Verge reported in April. At the time, Blue Origin informed The Verge that it was keeping track of the coronavirus concern and holds “security as our highest value.”

The NASA tech is mounted on the New Shepard booster, and will utilize a mix of terrain navigation, Doppler lidar, and a descent computer system to target the boosters landing zone. Blue Origin stated that NS-13 is the very first of two planned flights with the SPLICE demonstrator on board.

While it isnt bring a crew, the NS-13 mission included a variety of payloads, such as microgravity experiments and research. Blue Origin said there are 12 payloads on board from paying customers, most notably NASAs SPLICE (” Safe and Precise Landing– Integrated Capabilities Evolution”) technology presentation.

The NASA tech is installed on the New Shepard booster, and will use a combination of surface navigation, Doppler lidar, and a descent computer to target the boosters landing zone. Blue Origin stated that NS-13 is the first of two scheduled flights with the SPLICE demonstrator on board.

Register for CNBC on YouTube..

New Shepard is created to bring people on a ride past the edge of area, with the capsules on previous test flights reaching an elevation of more than 340,000 feet (or more than 100 kilometers). The capsule invests as much as 10 minutes in zero gravity before going back to Earth, with massive windows to give passengers a view.

Blue Origin