On August 27, according to foreign media reports, blue origin successfully launched its reusable "new Shepard" spacecraft from Texas on Thursday local time to conduct suborbital unmanned test flight to the edge of space. This is the first mission since the aircraft first sent its founder Jeff Bezos into space on July 20 this year < p > < / P > < p > the launch marks the 17th test flight of the new Shepard spacecraft, but the 60 foot (18 meter) spacecraft was not manned. Blue origin is continuing to test the aircraft and is preparing to provide space tourism services for other super rich, thrill seeking passengers. The new Shepard only carried payloads for research purposes, including the "lunar landing technology demonstration" on behalf of NASA < p > specifically, blue origin installed a set of sensors and computer algorithms on the new Shepard to test the navigation technology that may one day be used for the lunar lander. Blue origin also carried a lunar landing sensor when it launched the ns-13 mission last October. The company said that the ns-17 mission is expected to "further test" the technology to "reduce risk and increase confidence in a successful lunar mission" < p > this experiment aims to test key components of NASA's safe and accurate landing integrated capability evolution (splice) technology suite. NASA said the splice sensor "will make the lunar landing safer and more accurate than ever before". The system's algorithms and sensors allow lunar landers to land in rugged areas with boulders and craters that were inaccessible during the Apollo program < p > these sensors can identify hazards such as steep slopes and boulders, so that the lunar lander can turn to the safest landing area. This is part of NASA's Artemis return to the moon program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface in 2024. In 2018, NASA signed a $3 million agreement with blue origin to fly terrain relative navigation, navigation Doppler lidar and other altimetry sensors during the new Shepard mission < p > before the mission, NASA officials said that the flight of the new Shepard would help to verify the performance of the navigation Doppler lidar and terrain relative navigation camera installed on it. In the lunar landing mission, the sensor will provide the data about the spacecraft position and speed to the guidance computer on the lander. During Thursday's test flight, the landing and landing computer installed inside the new Shepard is expected to receive and process sensor data < p > NASA said that testing sensors in suborbital orbit enabled engineers to collect more data about the system, which exceeded the limits of laboratory, helicopter and low altitude testing. The splice suite will fly to the moon as soon as next year on the commercial robotic landers of astrorobotic and innovative machines < p > the new Shepard spacecraft rose to an altitude of 105.6 kilometers, and then landed accurately on a concrete platform near the launch pad. The suborbital flight altitude of blue origin is more than 60 miles (96 kilometers), which is widely regarded as the starting point of outer space. However, even the international space station, which operates in orbit more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the ground, is not far enough to provide the overall landscape of the earth < p > the initial launch was delayed by one hour. Blue origin explained that it was caused by "payload preparation problem". In addition, the flight went very smoothly < p > last month, when Bezos and three others became the first passengers of the new Shepard manned flight, the project attracted global attention. Before that, the aircraft had only conducted more than a dozen unmanned test flights. After the flight, Bezos told his story. He said, "Oh, my God! People's expectations are high and far exceeded. " < p > although there was no manned flight on Thursday, blue origin said that the company still plans to carry out two more manned flights this year. Bezos plans to use the new Shepard spacecraft for suborbital space tourism, in direct competition with Richard Branson's virgin galaxy, which has developed a rocket powered space plane that can be launched at the air level < p > both companies plan to start providing space tourism business in the coming months, giving anyone the opportunity to book seats on their own spacecraft and enjoy a fast space edge trip. This flight can see a panoramic view of the earth and enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness < p > before the suspension of ticket sales in 2014, Virgin Galactic had sold about 600 tickets at a price of about $200000. The company recently resumed selling tickets, but the price rose to $450000. Blue origin has not disclosed the price of the ticket, although one of its seats was sold for $28 million at the auction. The company has instructed its potential customers to fill out the online form < p > space tourism is a small but potentially profitable emerging industry in the space industry. UBS predicts that the annual revenue of this business may reach US $4 billion by 2030 < p > Blue origin also hopes to use the technology it developed for the new Shepard to transform it into a spacecraft that can land on the moon. Bezos has said that the spacecraft engine can accurately adjust the force released, which helps to understand how the company may use thrusters (or small engines) to achieve a "soft landing" on the lunar surface < p > but the dream of blue origin to send man to the moon has encountered major obstacles. Earlier this year, NASA announced the award of a nearly $3 billion contract for the construction of the lunar lander to SpaceX, excluding blue origin. Blue origin fought back. After the first attempt to overturn the decision failed, the company sued the U.S. federal government, claiming that NASA's decision was "flawed". The case will be decided in November（ Small) < / P > < p >