A capsule carrying experiments escaped and drifted safely down to Earth after an unmanned Blue Origin rocket carrying research payloads crashed shortly after liftoff on Monday, according to Jeff Bezos’ space company.
The company tweeted a short video clip of the capsule using emergency thrusters to break from its booster rocket about a minute after launch from Blue Origin’s west Texas headquarters.
“Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed,” Blue stated on a website and that the rocket “impacted the ground” rather than landing upright as it normally does. The New Shepard suborbital rockets have been grounded pending an investigation, which is customary procedure, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported,” The FAA also stated. The flight was the 23rd for the New Shepard rocket programme, named after the first American in space, and the first to fail.
NS-23, which carried 36 experiments, was originally scheduled to launch in late August but was delayed owing to poor weather. The anomaly happened as the rocket was climbing at a speed of 700 miles per hour (1,126 kilometres per hour) at a height of approximately 28,000 feet (8,500 metres).
The capsule then used emergency thrusters to detach from the rocket, engulfing it in a blinding yellow blaze. The tragedy is a blow for Blue Origin as well as the fledgling space travel business. Last year, Blue Origin began taking individuals to space on 10-minute excursions for an undetermined fee.
It has flown 32 individuals in all, some of whom were paying customers and others who were guests. Among the notable passengers are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Star Trek star William Shatner.
Passengers enjoy weightlessness for a few minutes until the capsule re-enters the atmosphere and floats down for a smooth desert landing.