Jeff Bezos-backed rocket landed safely back on Earth after flying to space

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company has landed its rocket back on Earth for the first time after flying to space.

According to a thrilling new video released by Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company launched its New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then land it back on the planet during the vehicle's first successful uncrewed reusability test Monday

"Rockets have always been expendable. Not anymore," Bezos wrote in a blog post announcing the rocket test Tuesday.

"Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts, a used rocket."

Blue Origin tested the space system earlier this year, but the company wasn't able to land the rocket back on the ground due to hydraulics issues.

"Full reuse is a game changer, and we can’t wait to fuel up and fly again," Bezos added.

For the test, the New Shepard rocket brought the space system's capsule about 100.5 kilometers into the air, reaching a max speed of Mach 3.72.

The capsule — the part of the craft designed to eventually carry six people to suborbital space — then gently landed back on Earth after deploying its parachutes, but the rocket had a different path to the ground.

The New Shepard's engine kicked back on about 5,000 feet above its landing pad and, after some maneuvering, and deploying its landing legs, the rocket made a soft touchdown back on Earth. The vehicle was moving at just 4.4 mph when it made its landing, Blue Origin said.

"This flight validates our vehicle architecture and design," Bezos wrote.

Eventually, Blue Origin plans to offer suborbital flights to space aboard New Shepard, but the company's ambitions don't stop there. Blue Origin also plans to build and launch an orbital rocket that would fly people and cargo to space from Florida.

All of these projects focus around Bezos' vision for the future.

Bezos and others claim that reusable rockets could greatly lower the cost of access to space. Instead of effectively throwing away rocket components after one use, Bezos hopes to use those rocket parts again and again over the course of at least a few missions.

"The vision for Blue [Origin] is pretty simple," Bezos said during a media roundtable in September. "We want to see millions of people living and working in space, and that’s going to take a long time. It’s a worthwhile goal."

Bezos' fellow charismatic spaceflight enthusiast and rocket company owner Elon Musk sent some words of congratulation (and a few words of clarification) to Blue Origin Tuesday via Twitter.

Congrats to Jeff Bezos and the BO team for achieving VTOL on their booster

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015

It is, however, important to clear up the difference between "space" and "orbit", as described well by https://t.co/7PD42m37fZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015

Getting to space needs ~Mach 3, but GTO orbit requires ~Mach 30. The energy needed is the square, i.e. 9 units for space and 900 for orbit.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015

For what it's worth, Musk knows what he's talking about. SpaceX also wants to create a fleet of reusable rockets to lower the cost of access to orbit.

SpaceX has attempted to land their Falcon 9 rockets on a drone ship in the ocean after flying to orbit, although those tests have not yet been totally successful.

continue at Mashable