Video: World's first reusable rocket

US firm Blue Origin's sub-orbital rocket launches and lands to open up race for sub-orbital tourism

Spaceflight company Blue Origin has successfully flown its 'New Shepard' rocket to an altitude of just over 100km and returned it to Earth, opening up the race for sub-orbital tourism.

The rocket development company, which is backed by the founder of internet retailer Amazon Jeff Bezos, posted a video of the flight in West Texas on its blog yesterday with a statement that it “validates our vehicle architecture and design”.

The rocket's managed descent starts when the its ring fin shifts the centre of pressure aft to help control reentry, while eight large drag brakes are deployed to reduce the vehicle’s terminal speed to 387 mph. Hydraulically actuated fins then steer the rocket through 119 mph high-altitude crosswinds to the landing location, before its highly-throttleable engine re-ignites to slow the booster as the landing gear are deployed and the vehicle descends to the last 100 feet at 4.4 mph to touchdown.

The achievement has surprised many people, with many drawing comparisons with Elon Musk's company SpaceX, which has been attempting to send into orbit and return to Earth its Falcon 9 reusable rocket. Space X has already 'landed' the first stage of Falcon 9, but had a spectacular failure earlier this year launching and recovering Falcon 9 with its Dragon spacecraft.

Greg Sadlier, associate director at London Economics and head of the consultancy's space team, said: “The endgame for changing the economics of space access is the achievement of reliable reusable orbital launch technology. That the Blue Origin rocket landed as a unit and recovered the payload capsule is impressive - without doubt it's an incredible achievement. But it's a big step further to reach the speed necessary to launch satellites to orbit.

“This demonstrates a system for sub-orbital launch and opens up possibilities for civilian astronauts and space tourism flights, placing it in competition with companies like Virgin Galactic and XCOR, for now.”