LAUNCH ONE: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully carried out its fourth crewed spaceflight on Thursday, a ten-minute joyride beyond the planet’s atmosphere and back again.

The New Shepard suborbital rocket blasted off from the company’s Launch Site One base in west Texas at 8:58am local time with six crew members.

The crew included Gary Lai, chief architect of the New Shepard programme, plus five paying customers — though the ticket price hasn’t been disclosed. “I felt my skin pulling taut,” Lai said, of the rocket ride.

Lai’s inclusion came after comedian Pete Davidson, the boyfriend of reality star Kim Kardashian, canceled his participation without disclosing a reason.

After launch, the reusable, zero greenhouse gas emissions rocket landed vertically at a pad, while the capsule continued soaring, crossing the Karman line that marks the start of space, 100 kilometres high.

Passengers unbuckled and enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness, taking in the majesty of Earth before the capsule re-entered the atmosphere, deployed its chutes and floated to the surface for a gentle desert landing.

Blue Origin’s past flights have included its founder Bezos as well as Star Trek icon William Shatner.

After years of promise, the space tourism sector is finally taking off.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is targeting next week to fly three tycoons and a former astronaut to the Inter­national Space Station on the Axiom-1 mission — though the crew involved insist they’re doing serious research work rather than going on vacation.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2022