Jeff Bezos just revealed a mock-up of the spacecraft his rocket company will use to take tourists into space.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed new conceptual images of a capsule that his rocket company Blue Origin plans to use to ferry adventurous tourists into space.The photos and illustrations, which Bezos sent out via email on March 29, show the inside of a mock-up spacecraft that's supposed to resemble its close-to-final form."[W]e've been designing the capsule interior with an eye toward precision engineering, safety, and comfort. Here's a sneak peek," Bezos wrote.Blue Origin plans to attach a flight-ready version of the capsule to the top of its reusable, liquid-fueled New Shepard rocket system
Each launch will rocket a handful of wealthy tourists more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth on a roughly 11-minute trip.Near the top of a high arc, the rocket will detach from the space capsule, which will fall toward the ground — granting passengers about 4 minutes of weightlessness and letting them take in an incredible view of the fringes of our planet's outer atmosphere.
"Every window's a seat" inside the capsule, Bezos wrote.He also claimed that his capsule will have the "largest windows ever in space."
A mock-up of the spacecraft is scheduled to be displayed in Colorado Springs from April 3-6 at the 33rd Space Symposium, according to the email."The high-fidelity capsule mock-up will be on display alongside the New Shepard reusable booster that flew to space and returned five times," Bezos said.Blue Origin is also working on a bigger rocket system, called New Glenn, which should be capable of launching payloads (like satellites) into orbit.Bezos' most recent announcement comes just a day before SpaceX, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, plans to re-launch one of his Falcon 9 rocket boosters from a previous flight.Experts say SpaceX's launch could be "potentially revolutionary" in reducing the cost of access to space, since its rocket system is able to loft satellites and cargo into orbit.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.
Prepare yourself for space traveling... ;)