http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1802853.cms
TEXAS: A spacecraft taking off from a private West Texas spaceport being bankrolled and developed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos would take off vertically, but unlike Nasa's space shuttle would also land vertically, according to an environmental study that offers a glimpse into the secretive plans. The craft would hit an altitude of about 325,000 feet - or almost 62 miles - before descending and restarting its engine for a "precision vertical powered landing on the landing pad" in sparsely populated Culberson County, about 125 miles east of El Paso. Those were among the plans detailed in a 229-page draft of an environmental review filed with the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA would issue permits and licenses for Blue Origin to go ahead with launch plans. The report was assembled by Blue Origin and Tetra Tech Inc, an engineering and technical consulting firm based in Pasadena, California. According to Blue Origin's website, the company is "developing vehicles and technologies that, over time, will help enable an enduring presence in space". "We are currently working to develop a crewed, suborbital launch system that emphasises safety and low cost of operations," the website says. A public hearing on the environmental review was scheduled on Tuesday in Van Horn, a town of 3,000 and the closest centre of population to the space base. Bezos, the 42-year-old billionaire who built Amazon into an Internet sales giant, won't attend the hearing, Blue Origin spokesman Bruce Hicks said. The environmental assessment process is "only one of the steps prior to obtaining an experimental permit for a launch operator's license," FAA spokesman Hank Price said. "We have received permit applications from Blue Origin and are evaluating them for safety and other considerations, as well." TEXAS: A spacecraft taking off from a private West Texas spaceport being bankrolled and developed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos would take off vertically, but unlike Nasa's space shuttle would also land vertically, according to an environmental study that offers a glimpse into the secretive plans. The craft would hit an altitude of about 325,000 feet - or almost 62 miles - before descending and restarting its engine for a "precision vertical powered landing on the landing pad" in sparsely populated Culberson County, about 125 miles east of El Paso. Those were among the plans detailed in a 229-page draft of an environmental review filed with the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA would issue permits and licenses for Blue Origin to go ahead with launch plans. The report was assembled by Blue Origin and Tetra Tech Inc, an engineering and technical consulting firm based in Pasadena, California. According to Blue Origin's website, the company is "developing vehicles and technologies that, over time, will help enable an enduring presence in space". "We are currently working to develop a crewed, suborbital launch system that emphasises safety and low cost of operations," the website says. A public hearing on the environmental review was scheduled on Tuesday in Van Horn, a town of 3,000 and the closest centre of population to the space base. Bezos, the 42-year-old billionaire who built Amazon into an Internet sales giant, won't attend the hearing, Blue Origin spokesman Bruce Hicks said. The environmental assessment process is "only one of the steps prior to obtaining an experimental permit for a launch operator's license," FAA spokesman Hank Price said. "We have received permit applications from Blue Origin and are evaluating them for safety and other considerations, as well." Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
