As Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes another historic first, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin returns to flight - The Washington Post

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"Jeffrey P. Bezos's Blue Origin got a step closer to flying tourists to space Tuesday when it launched a life-size dummy the company named “Mannequin Skywalker” from its remote West Texas facility.

The updated booster and crew capsule, which the company hopes to use to fly its first human tourists to space by as early as next year, hit a peak altitude of nearly 100 kilometers, or what's considered the threshold of space, the company said in a statement. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The New Shepard booster, named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space, then flew back to Earth, successfully touching down on a landing pad so that it can be reused. The capsule, designed with what Blue Origin says are the largest windows ever to fly into space, floated back under parachutes for a landing in a flight that lasted 10 minutes and six seconds."

As Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes another historic first, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin returns to flight - The Washington Post