Corn Ranch
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 Aerial view of Corn Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Van Horn, Texas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 31°25′24″N 104°45′32″W / 31.42333°N 104.75889°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Blue Origin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Corn Ranch, or Launch Site One, is a spaceport in the West Texas town of Van Horn, Texas. The 670-square-kilometer (165,000-acre) land parcel was purchased by Internet billionaire Jeff Bezos. Current launch license and experimental permits from the US government Federal Aviation Administration authorize flights of New Shepard rockets.[1] The first flight test took place on November 13, 2006 with the goal of providing commercial tourist flights.[2] Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight launched at Corn Ranch on July 20, 2021. The flight, dubbed NS-16, carried 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]
As of May 2015[update], Blue Origin has a staff of approximately 50 supporting the West Texas facility.[4]
The 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.[5]
In addition to the suborbital launch pads, the West Texas site includes a number of rocket engine test stands. Engine test cells to support both hydrolox, methalox and storable propellant engines are present.[1]
Included are three test cells just for testing the methalox BE-4 engine alone: two full test cells that can support full-thrust and full-duration burns, as well as one that supports short-duration, high-pressure preburner tests, to "refine the ignition sequence and understand the start transients."[6]
See also
- Baikonur Cosmodrome – Spaceport in Kazakhstan leased to Russia
- Kennedy Space Center – United States space launch site in Florida
- List of rocket launch sites
References
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Roulette, Joey (2021-07-20). "Blue Origin successfully sends Jeff Bezos and three others to space and back". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ "Local engineers aim high for cheaper spaceflight". Seattle Times. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ "Final Environmental Assessment for the Blue Origin West Texas Commercial Launch Site" (pdf). faa.gov. August 2006. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "BE-4 Engine Testing Update From Jeff Bezos – Parabolic Arc". Parabolic Arc.
External links
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