Jeff Bezos, the billionaire CEO of Amazon, is one step closer to conquering space.
Blue Origin, the commercial space travel company Bezos founded, launched a surprise test flight of its New Shepard space vehicle Wednesday.
Bezos said in a statement that the rocket's engine "worked flawlessly."
"Any astronauts on board would have had a very nice journey into space and a smooth return," Bezos said.
However, he added that the rocket's "propulsion module," which was designed to be reusable, was not recovered because of a problem with the hydraulic system.
A video posted on Blue Origin's website shows the unoccupied New Shepard blasting off and the space capsule parachuting to Earth at the company's West Texas testing facility.