Blue Origin, formed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos to offer commercial human spaceflight, has criticised proposed US Federal Aviation Administration requirements on cabin environmental controls as being unnecessary for vehicles like its New Shephard, which will make short-duration suborbital flights.
In a submission to the FAA, Blue Origin says: “Operators are planning short suborbital flights, such as 10 or 20 minutes in duration…. We suggest these requirements [for active environmental controls] not apply to short flights.”
Designed to carry three people on a suborbital trajectory, the New Shephard is a conical rocket,15m (49ft) tall and 7m wide at its base. Launched vertically, the two-stage vehicle would reach 325,000ft before returning for a vertical landing and could complete a flight in minutes. Vehicle details were revealed in an FAA environmental assessment of Blue Origin’s proposals for a launch site at 40km (25miles) north of Van Horn, Texas.
Source: Flight International
