Corn Ranch, commonly referred to as Launch Site One (LSO), is a spaceport owned and operated by Blue Origin which is located approximately 30 miles north of the town of Van Horn, Texas, United States.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Van Horn, Texas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Established | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Blue Origin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 670-square-kilometer (165,000-acre) land was purchased by Jeff Bezos in 2004.
The company uses the spaceport for testing and launch services for its New Shepard rocket. The launch site has a sub-orbital launch pad and also has a number of rocket engine test stands. The engine test cells are at the site to support the hydrolox, methalox and storable propellant engines that are used. There are three test cells for testing the methalox BE-4 engine, two of which support full-thrust and full-duration burns, and one that supports short-duration, high-pressure preburner tests. The spaceport also includes a vehicle processing facility and an astronaut training facility.[1][2]
The companies first human spaceflight launched from Launch Site One (LS1) on July 20, 2021. The flight, dubbed NS-16, carried its founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, test pilot and Mercury 13 member Wally Funk, and Dutchman Oliver Daemen on a suborbital flight aboard New Shepard 4.[3]
FAA Launch License Information
editCurrent launch license and experimental permits from the US government Federal Aviation Administration authorize flights of New Shepard rockets.[4] The site became active on November 13, 2006 with the goal of providing commercial tourist flights to space.[5]
Location
editThe launch pad is located at 31°25′23″N 104°45′26″W / 31.422927°N 104.757152°W, about 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the check-out building. The landing pad is located at 31°27′06″N 104°45′46″W / 31.4517°N 104.7628°W, about 6.1 km (3.8 mi) north of a check-out building and 3.2 km (2 mi) north of the launch pad.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Final Environmental Assessment for the Blue Origin West Texas Commercial Launch Site" (pdf). faa.gov. August 2006. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "Fly to Space". Blue Origin. Archived from the original on 2024-05-14. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ Roulette, Joey (2021-07-20). "Blue Origin successfully sends Jeff Bezos and three others to space and back". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the Blue Origin West Texas Launch Site (Report). Federal Aviation Administration. February 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Space Dreams Boost Tiny Town". MSNBC. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020.