Space
Understand the differences between the missions of Blue Origin, by Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX, by Elon Musk
Blue Origin, a private astronautics company owned by tycoon Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, made a successful manned commercial flight for the eighth time this Thursday, the 29th. NS-26 departed Texas at around 10:07 am in the morning. Brasília and had six civilians on board.
According to Blue Origin, the NS-26 crew reached an apogee of 104 km in altitude, surpassing the Kármán Line, which defines the division of Earth's atmosphere and space. This week, SpaceX, a rocket manufacturer owned by businessman Elon Musk, also intended to carry out a commercial flight through the Polaris Dawn mission, which was postponed twice.
Although both missions are commercial, there are differences between the projects. The NS-26 flight lasted just ten minutes and was intended to cross the Kármán Line with civilians on board.
SpaceX's Polaris Dawn, on the other hand, is financed by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who is among the crew members of the Dragon spacecraft, and aims to exceed an altitude of 1400 km, something that has not been achieved since the Apollo missions, to carry out the first “ walk” of civilians in space.