Space would get more crowded as private companies begin to take interest on it. For a long time space has been the domain of mostly government entities since maintaining a space program can be costly. However, as technology moves forward cost also begins to go lower. Now there are some companies that can afford to have their own space program. Blue Origin is one of the companies that have set its sight on it, and it is prepared to launch its flight by next year.
According to Fox News Blue Origin will begin test flight by 2017. Commercial flights would then commence by 2018. Blue Origin has recently made a successful test of its New Shepard rocket.
New Shepard consists of a rocket and a capsule, as Space.com reports. Blue Origin has successfully tested its escape mechanism last October 5. The test was unmanned, though it demonstrates the safety features of the vehicle in the event of an emergency. New Shepard though would not be used for much longer as Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said that it would be put in a museum.
New Shepard is just one of the projects of Blue Origin. Another project is being developed called New Glenn. The new project would take people and satellites into low orbit around the Earth. Another being planned is New Armstrong, though there are still no details about it.
Blue Origin is just one of the many endeavors being made by private companies. Elon Musk has SpaceX and Charles Branson has Virgin Atlantic, among others. The Initial goal of these enterprises is to take people into a lower space orbit around the Earth. Virgin Atlantic is charging $250,000 per seat for its flights, though Blue Origin has not disclosed any pricing for its passenger flights yet.
Just like SpaceX, Blue Origin will be using reusable rockets for its project. Currently, Blue Origin only plans to take passengers into orbit around the Earth. SpaceX has a much bigger plan as it sets its sight on Mars for a possible mission there. Other companies have space plans as well, as private space stations could become a reality as early as 2020.
