Jeff Bezos steps closer to sending paying customers into space by the end of the year

Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its eighth rocket test flight from West Texas on Sunday.

The New Shepherd spacecraft launched from Van Horn, Texas just after 1.00pm Eastern and included the company's second round of commercial payloads to be delivered into outerspace, from a range of customers. 

While the New Shepherd capsule is designed to carry up to six 'space tourists,' it was unmanned for this flight, according to CBS News.

A wide range of customers purchased cargo space on the rocket, sending equipment into the great unknown to carry out 'in-space science and technology demonstrations,' Blue Origin said on Friday.

“Mannequin Skywalker,” a dummy astronaut was also included in the trip to the edge of space. 

“Mannequin Skywalker is ready for his 2nd mission on board New Shepard. He’s a little sensitive about being called a "dummy," as he will be conducting astronaut telemetry and science studies – a very important job!” the company tweeted on Saturday.

The New Shepard capsule successfully detached from its booster, as planned, at an altitude of about 47 miles, and went on by itself to reach a height of 351,000 feet, or about 66.5 miles.

That height is about 20,000 feet higher than the normally targeted altitude, as Blue Origin strives to “expand the envelope” and gather additional flight data. 

In the booster's second flight, it returned to earth tail first, reignited the BE-3 engine and successfully deployed its four landing legs.