Blue Origin space tourism company co-founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos completed its fourth crewed flight Thursday after a successful landing in West Texas for a 10-minute suborbital flight for six passengers.
The New Shepard spacecraft lifted off at 13:59 GMT. After a short time, the crew capsule separated from the missile, which is six stories high, at an altitude of 106 km.
The crew enjoyed a few minutes of free-flying at the climax of their short flight before the capsule returned to Earth and descended into a desert area with three parachutes, landing safely outside the West Texas town of Van Horn.
“What an amazing job from the first launch site. Congratulations to all of the Blue team for carrying out and supporting today’s journey,” Blue Origin wrote on Twitter.
The flight took place two days later than scheduled due to bad weather, which led to its postponement on Tuesday. This flight differed from the three previous Blue Origin flights that carried famous travelers including actor William Shatner, television presenter Michael Strahan and Bezos in that no famous people were on Thursday’s flight.