'Millions of people living and working in space' Ambitious plan for huge new space shuttle
BILLIONAIRE Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to send "millions" of people into space using a huge new rocket prototype as big as NASA's Saturn V that delivered humans to the moon.
The ambitious plan would see his reusable New Glenn rocket ferry people into orbit
The ambitious plan would see his reusable New Glenn rocket ferry people into orbit as early as the end of the decade.
At 313feet (95 metres) tall, the rocket dwarfs the competition and opens up the possibility of more people exploring the universe.
Mr Bezos said he hoped the project would open up outer space to humans who could live and work in the cosmos.
His spaceflight company Blue Origin has already successful tested a reusable rocket, landing it back on Earth safely.
He now wants to do the same with an even larger rocket that could be used to shuttle amateur astronauts out of this world.
Mr Bezos, who founded the internet retailer and is now the world's third richest man, said: "Our vision is millions of people living and working in space, and New Glenn is a very important step."
The US-based space company is designing two versions of the rocket, named New Glenn, a nod to John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth and the last surviving member of NASA's original Mercury Seven astronauts.
The company is building a launch site and test facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and a rocket manufacturing plant at NASA's adjacent Kennedy Space Center.
Blue Origin has been testing a smaller, reusable rocket and spaceship called New Shepard, which is intended to fly paying passengers to an altitude of about 60 miles so they can experience a few minutes of microgravity.
Bezos launching the project
Graph showing the scale of the new rocket
SpaceX's latest launch exploded soon after launch
Blue Origin has not yet started selling tickets for rides. If test flights continue as expected, Blue Origin pilots could begin flying next year, with paying passengers to follow in 2018, Mr Bezos said.
New Glenn will compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX and other companies to launch a commercial satellite before the end of the decade.
SpaceX had expected to try a seventh landing on September 3, but its rocket was destroyed during a routine prelaunch test two days before liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The cause of the accident, which destroyed a $200million Space Communication Ltd satellite, is under investigation.