Tech entrepreneur Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin is once again going to try and test the limits of what is impossible.
Blue Origin is expected to fly its reusable New Shepard rocket for the third time — which is part of its goal to kickstart "space tourism" — anytime between Saturday and Tuesday, according to a notice released by the Federal Aviation Administration.
In his Twitter account, Bezos said the rocket's BE-3 engine will restart fast exactly 3,600 feet above the ground, or about six seconds before estimated impact. The company hopes this will leave little room for error as the rocket lands back into Earth.
If this plan doesn't work, however, the hydrogen-fueled New Shepard would face its fiery end.
Working to fly again tomorrow. Same vehicle. Third time. #LaunchLandRepeat @BlueOrigin pic.twitter.com/e1ZfYAibK2 — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 1, 2016
Pushing the envelope. Restarting BE-3 fast @ high thrust, just 3600 ft from ground. Impact in 6 sec if engine doesn’t restart & ramp fast.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 1, 2016
What's more remarkable is that Bezos' tweets mark the first time that he publicly announced the date of a test flight beforehand. Is this an April fool's joke? Fortunately, it isn't. Meanwhile, don't expect any fancy livestream, but Bezos did promise that there will be drone footage of the test.
We’ll have drone cameras in the air and hopefully will get good aerial footage to share. #LaunchLandRepeat @BlueOrigin — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 1, 2016
In November last year, Blue Origin blasted off New Shepard into space and safely landed the rocket four and a half feet from where it was launched, all after 11 minutes.
The company's second New Shepard test flight in January was quite successful, too. It was able to bring the reusable rocket back on Earth without a scratch.
The rocket had reached a maximum altitude of 333,582 feet or about 101.7 kilometers before it was safely guided back by controllers.
With all these test flights, Blue Origin seems to be giving its rival, SpaceX, a run for its money.
Additionally, Bezos' rocket company believes that a field trip to space may be plausible with its tech. Blue Origin aims to fly people at the edge of space and allow them to "hang out" weightless.
"The ultimate vision should be aircraft-like operations," Bezos said in November.
Meanwhile, the third New Shepard rocket test flight will include two research experiments packed aboard for the space trip: the Box of Rocks Experiment (BORE) and the Collisions into Dust Experiment (COLLIDE).
BORE, which is led by experts from Southwest Research Institute, will simulate the dynamics of rocky soil on near-Earth asteroids.
COLLIDE, on the other hand, will examine impacts between objects in zero-gravity. It is led by the University Central Florida.
The experimental packages inside the capsule is another first for the company's suborbital space efforts.
Additionally, Blue Origin is building more spaceships as potential replacements should the New Shepard test flight go haywire.
