--- description: Blue Origin, the private space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, test-launched its New Shepard vehicle for the first time title: Amazon CEO Bezos' Space Company Just Tested its First Rocket image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82da34491cea49bd/6987edb2524fc0856ddf07f8/blueorigin_launch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Space Company Just Tested its First Rocket ## Video: Blue Origin First Flight [Watch (HLS stream): Blue Origin First Flight](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8P03Nwys.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2015-04-30. Blue Origin First Flight_  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2015 1:41 PM CUT  Blue Origin Launch Blue Origin LaunchBlue Origin  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2015 1:41 PM CUT Blue Origin, the private space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, [test-launched](https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blog/first-developmental-test-flight-of-new-shepard "undefined") its New Shepard vehicle for the first time ever on Wednesday, it was revealed Thursday morning. The sub-orbital spacecraft reached an altitude of 58 miles above the Earth before the unmanned capsule separated from the booster rocket and returned to Earth with the help of a parachute. Blue Origin’s goal is to for the spacecraft’s booster system to land vertically after launches so it can be easily reused, but the company wasn’t able to recover the booster Wednesday because of a problem with a hydraulic system. More from Blue Origin on the launch: --- > “” --- Unlike some private space companies focused on delivering astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station — like the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX — Blue Origin’s primary goal is to open space travel to human tourists. However, the company is also working with United Launch Alliance, a joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin venture, to produce the engines for a rocket to replace the Atlas V, which uses Russian-made engines. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/"},"headline":"Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Space Company Just Tested its First Rocket","datePublished":"2015-04-30T13:41:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:04:59.314Z","description":"Watch the Blue Origin launch here","url":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/","keywords":["Tech","Amazon","Space","Jeff Bezos"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82da34491cea49bd/6987edb2524fc0856ddf07f8/blueorigin_launch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82da34491cea49bd/6987edb2524fc0856ddf07f8/blueorigin_launch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Blue Origin Launch","caption":"Blue Origin Launch","creditText":"Blue Origin","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/","name":"Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Space Company Just Tested its First Rocket"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Blue Origin First Flight","description":"Blue Origin First Flight","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8P03Nwys/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-30T13:32:17.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8P03Nwys.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/","duration":"PT2M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3841589/blue-origin-space-jeff-bezos-amazon/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```