The American reusable “New Shepard” spacecraft has carried out a suborbital flight with a commercial crew of six tourists.
Elchi.az reports that this was reported by the manufacturing company “Blue Origin”.
The launch of “New Shepard” took place at 11:27 am American time (20:27 Baku time) from the “Corn Ranch” launch site located near the city of Van Horn in West Texas.
The flight lasted 10-11 minutes.
The “NS-38” crew included entrepreneur Tim Drexler, obstetrician-gynecologist Linda Edwards, international real estate developer and investor Alen Fernandes, entrepreneur, technologist and traveler Alberto Gutierrez, retired US Air Force Colonel, former “F-15” fighter pilot and manufacturing company founder Jim Hendren, as well as “Blue Origin” company’s “New Shepard” spacecraft launch director Laura Stiles.
The reusable “New Shepard” rocket, created for commercial tourist flights, consists of an 18-meter single-stage carrier and a six-person landing capsule. It is equipped with an emergency rescue system and parachutes.
The cost of a flight with “New Shepard” for space tourists is estimated at 500 thousand dollars.
Since 2021, within the framework of the “New Shepard” program, 16 successful suborbital missions have been carried out, and 92 tourists have been at the border between the Earth’s atmosphere and space (6 of them twice).