Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin Rocket Crashes Just Over 1 Minute After Launch The same New Shepard design has carried several celebrities, including Bezos, to the edge of space.

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

Space tourism has been getting a lot of attention lately, but a recent mishap was a reminder of what can go wrong.

On Monday, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin launched an uncrewed New Shepard rocket that experienced a booster failure, per the aerospace company, triggering an emergency landing for its capsule carrying three dozen experiments.

Related: William Shatner Moved to Tears After Trip to Space: 'I Hope I Never Recover From This'

There were no people aboard the flight, which departed from Blue Origin's launch site in West Texas. But several celebrities, including William Shatner, Michael Strahan and Bezos himself have journeyed to the edge of space on New Shepard vehicles of the same design, The New York Times reported.

The incident occurred one minute and four seconds after takeoff, at the point where the vehicle experiences "forces of maximum atmospheric pressure." A yellow flame burst from the booster's engine, and as the booster pitched, the emergency escape system sent the capsule to safety.

The rocket reached 37,000 feet, or approximately seven miles — well below the 60-plus miles typically reached.

Related: What Will It Be Like to Fly in a Blue Origin Spaceship?

The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate, grounding Blue Origin flights until it concludes "whether any system, process or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety."

Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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