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This is how Jeff Bezos' reusable rocket could revolutionize space travel

Kelly Dickerson

2015-11-24T21:21:00Z

blue origin new shephard rocket landing test 2

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, has been working on a rocket system for 15 years to make spaceflight routine and affordable to paying customers.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 24, Bezos' company Blue Origin made history by launching its New Shepard rocket 62 miles above the Earth and then gently landing it back on the ground.

Take a close-up look at how reusable rocket systems like New Shepard could revolutionize space travel.

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Jeff Bezos has quietly worked on a reusable rocket system in the West Texas desert for more than a decade.

blue origin new shephard rocket landing test 3

On November 24, his spaceflight company Blue Origin test-launched that system — the New Shepard — once again.

blue origin new shephard rocket landing test 2

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But unlike during other tests, New Shepard reached a speed of about 2,800 mph...

blue origin new shepard rocket liftoff

...And flew 62 miles above Earth — the unofficial boundary of space.

blue origin new shepard

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Once it got there, the rocket released a space capsule...

blue origin capsule — Artist's concept. Blue Origin

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...Then gently touched back down on Earth.

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Blue Origin has a lot of reasons to celebrate the history-making achievement.

jeff bezos popping champagne with blue origin employees new shepard rocket

It costs millions of dollars to build a rocket, yet they all end up landing in and sinking to the ocean bottom.

pacific ocean

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Bezos says launching a rocket today is like flying a 747 airplane once and then "throwing it away."

jeff bezos

Source: CBS This Morning

Reusable rockets could dramatically reduce the cost of spaceflight: Launch, land, refuel, and then launch again.

blue origin new shepard

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A goal of Blue Origin and other companies is to make spaceflight more affordable to the masses.

blue origin new shapard capsule simulation — Artist's concept. Blue Origin/YouTube

Blue Origin wants to start launching people to the edge of space, where they can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and take in a view like no other.

blue origin capsule simulation — Artist's concept. Blue Origin/YouTube

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Some day, Bezos envisions "millions of people living and working in space."

astronaut selfie photo space nasa

Source: CBS This Morning

But Blue Origin has only taken a small step forward. We won't start suddenly seeing every spacecraft launched into space with a reusable rocket.

blue origin launch

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That's because Blue Origin did not put a spacecraft into orbit.

sunburst over earth

New Shepard isn't powerful enough to do that; Bezos' rocket would need about 100 times more energy to pull off the feat.

blue origin new shepard

Source: Elon Musk/Twitter

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With 100 times more energy, it becomes much harder to land a rocket. Elon Musk is pretty familiar with this problem.

Elon Musk

His rocket company, SpaceX, is working on a more powerful reusable launcher that could put a spacecraft into orbit and then land back on Earth.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Photo Credit SpaceX Posted on AmericaSpace

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But SpaceX hasn't quite nailed the landing yet:

So we've got a ways to go before there's a reusable rocket that can launch payloads into orbit.

spacex falcon heavy lift rocket illustration

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Blue Origin's achievement is still important, of course: It marks a big step forward in reusable rocket development and commercial spaceflight.

blue origin new shepard — A launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard reusable suborbital rocket system. Blue Origins

But we can't wait for a view like this. When can we hitch a ride, Blue Origin?

earth from space — Pacific Ocean from space. blueforce4116/Flickr

Blue Origin Jeff Bezos SpaceX

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