VIDEO: Successful Blue Origin Rocket Test in West Texas

VAN HORN, TX -- Rocket Company Blue Origin successfully launched a test rocket at its launch facility in West Texas Wednesday.  

The New Shepard rocket test launch was to test the vehicle escape motor which is designed to propel the crew capsule away from the booster rocket.  

Here's the video: 

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Blue Origin is owned by Jeff Bezos.  Like most vertical rockets, the New Shepard is designed to take off upright from a launchpad at Blue Origin’s facilities in West Texas.

Perched on top of the vehicle is a capsule for crew members, which the rocket carries skyward during flight. Once the New Shepard reached an altitude of around 62 miles — what’s often considered the edge of space — the capsule and rocket separate.

If passengers were on board, that’s when they would experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Then, both the capsule and rocket fall back to Earth.

Parachutes deploy to gently land the capsule, while the rocket reignites its engine to land upright on the ground.

The West Texas launch facility is near Van Horn.