Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully tests reusable rocket for a third time

Blue Origin is taking this whole “reusable rocket” thing pretty seriously. The private space-flight company, which was established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its New Shepard rocket to suborbital space and brought it back to Earth in a soft landing for the third time today. The unmanned crew capsule also landed safely, using parachutes.

Flawless BE-3 restart and perfect booster landing.

Bezos on Twitter

The breakthroughs by Blue Origin and parallel efforts by rival Internet mogul Elon Musk’s SpaceX open up the potential for cutting costs for space travel and making rockets as reusable as airplanes. In November, Bezos called the accomplishment a “game-changer” which opens the door to lower costs in space travel and his vision of people living and working in space.

Blue Origin