Blue Origin has successfully demonstrated its updated New Shepard suborbital vehicle for manned flights. The rocket system crew capsule separated from its reusable booster two and a half minutes after takeoff, before reaching a maximum altitude of 107 kilometers (66.5 miles). It landed with a parachute 10 minutes and 15 seconds after the rocket left the ground. As for the booster, it successfully spun at 2 to 3 degrees per second, which will give future passengers a 360-degree view of space in the future. It is New Shepard’s 14th general mission, but it is the first for the redesigned crew capsule and its booster.
The updated six-seat crew capsule, called RSS First Step, comes with new features that offer the best “astronaut experience” possible. It has speakers in the cabin, along with microphones that will allow passengers to speak to ground control. Each seat has a crew alert system, transmitting safety messages to all space travelers. The vehicle also has padded wall liners, sound suppression devices to reduce ambient noise inside the capsule, cooling system and humidity controls.