LOS ANGELES (XINHUA) – US aerospace company Blue Origin on Sunday launched a six-member crew to the edge of space since its suborbital New Shepard rocket was grounded in 2022.
The rocket blasted off at about 9.35am Central Time (1435 GMT) from its West Texas test site, marking Blue Origin’s seventh crewed mission and a resumption of the company’s centrepiece space tourism business.
After reaching an apogee of 106 kilometres above ground level, the crew capsule landed on the ground at 9.45am Central Time (1445 GMT). The mission lasted 9 minutes 53 seconds, according to the company.
The crew included Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L Hess, Carol Schaller, Gopi Thotakura, and former US Air Force Captain Ed Dwight.
The launch followed the success of an uncrewed mission in December last year, which was the New Shepard program’s first flight since it experienced a booster failure in an uncrewed mission in September, 2022.
