Spaceflight

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos's suborbital vehicle development company Blue Origin has released pictures of the first flight of its Goddard technology demonstrator, which took place on 13 November.

The Goddard is the first development vehicle in Blue Origin's New Shepard programme. Launching from Blue Origin's test site near van Horn in Texas, the Goddard reached a maximum altitude of 285ft (87m).

New Shepard will be the name of Bezos's proposed manned suborbital vehicle for tourism. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration's environmental impact assessment, the New Shepard will be conical in shape like the Goddard, be 15m high, have a base diameter of 7m, use 54,400kg (119,000lb) of hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, and have a thrust capability of 230,000lb (1,000kN).