Houston
A test rocket was fired this week from a private site in West Texas owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin, a company founded by Bezos, aims to commercialize space flight using a 50-foot-tall, reusable rocket capable of vertical takeoffs and landings and large enough to accommodate three or more passengers. The secretive company did not immediately confirm the test, described by a Federal Aviation Administration official as a "one- or two-minute event." But Blue Origin says in regulatory filings that it may conduct as many as 10 suborbital tests this year.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What's the best time of year to buy a house?The Explainer There are pros and cons to each season
-
Africa's largest dam is making diplomatic wavesUnder the Radar Ethiopians view using the Nile as a 'sovereign right' but the vast hydroelectric project has 'fuelled nationalist fervour' in Egypt and Sudan
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
