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Blue Originhas carried out a successful uncrewed certification mission of its 2nd New Shepard ship on Wednesday , as the company looks to effectively double the figure of holidaymaker it can fly to subocular space and back .
The RSS Kármán Line ejector seat is named for the fanciful bound at 100 kilometers of EL separating the atmosphere from space ; it launched to suborbital blank from Blue Origin ’s West Texas launch site at 8:27 a.m. PT . This was the 27th flying of a New Shepard launch vehicle since 2015 . All those delegacy used the same abridgment , the RSS First Step , bringing 43 people to the edge of place since crew missions startle in 2021 . ( takeoff booster , of which there are several , do n’t get figure . )
“ It ’s a newfangled aurora , it ’s a new 24-hour interval , it ’s a new booster unit and a Modern crew abridgement , ” Blue Origin ’s Maggie McNeece saidduring a launch livestream .
The vehicle included some newfangled ascent to meliorate performance and reliableness , Blue Origin say , as well as improved payload fitting on the booster . That booster carried five payloads for this commission , while seven extra lading were placed inside the ejection seat . While Blue Origin did not release detail on all the payloads , McNeece say all but one were technology demonstrations developed in - planetary house . That included two unlike lidar sensors for the “ lunar permanency ” programme and a navigation system for both New Shepard and New Glenn , Blue Origin ’s first orbital rocket , which could launch before the remainder of the year .
The successful launch followed two attempts scrubbed due to technical issues on October 7 and October 13 . The booster dose sort from the capsule more or less four minutes after take - off , with the capsule autonomously glide back to Earth under a parachute around six minute later .
Blue Origin read this fresh ejector seat will expand “ flight content to better meet growing customer demand , ” though it ’s unclear what launching metre the party is expect to meet in the come months .
