On January 14th at 16:57 UTC, Blue Origin launched their New Shepard 14 mission from their Corn Ranch spaceport in Van Horn, Texas.

Both the capsule and booster were new. The capsule featured “astronaut experience upgrades” which included speakers in the capsule, microphones in each of the six seats cushioned wall panels to reduce ambient noise in the capsule, and an environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) to support the passengers including humidity and temperature controls to regulate temperature and prevent fogging of the windows.

As a reminder, this particular rocket is designed to one day carry tourists into space.

One other improvement to the crew experience on this flight was the addition of a two-degree per minute spin on the ascent, to allow passengers a full 360-degree view on the way up. More than 50,000 postcards contributed by Club For the Future (a Blue Origin sponsored club to encourage children to pursue STEM careers) were also carried inside the capsule. Mannequin Skywalker, an instrumented crash test dummy, was strapped into one of the seats. The capsule reached a height or apogee of 107 kilometers, while the booster reached a slightly lower apogee of 106 kilometers.

Total mission elapsed time was 10:10, and both capsule and booster landings were successful, though the booster touched down a bit off-center on its landing pad.

More Information

Blue Origin press release

SpaceFlight Now article

Launch video