The New Shepard spacecraft by Blue Origin was recently launched into near space and landed successfully in Texas. The unmanned capsule also landed successfully using parachutes. It is worth noting that this was the third successful launch in 4 months. The landing moment was very important in this launch, which went perfectly and allowed for debugging of the engine and the main capsule of the New Shepard spacecraft.
When launching this ship, a fundamentally new technology was developed – using already tested rockets to slow down the speed during landing. This approach allowed to reduce the speed to 8 km/h, and also to reduce the cost of launch to a minimum, which is very important for the development of space as a tourist site.
According to the authoritative opinion of experts, if future test launches are successful, then already in 2018 it will be possible to begin space tourism – suborbital travel with tourists on board a rocket. Time will tell whether space tourism will replace traditional tourism in 2 years, but scientists are doing everything possible to popularize this trend.
