Blue Origin launches test of its suborbital space system

Details: The launch marked the first test for an upgraded New Shepard capsule, equipped with temperature regulation, display panels and speakers with a microphone for future customers.

• It was also the first flight for this particular New Shepard booster.
• Blue Origin also flew "Mannequin Skywalker" — its flight test dummy — aboard the capsule to monitor the stresses future fliers might face.
• The rocket landed back on Earth while the capsule came back to the ground under parachutes after reaching more than 350,000 feet in altitude.

The big picture: Blue Origin isn't the only company working to get a piece of the suborbital space tourism market.

• Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is developing a space plane that will fly people to the edge of space and bring them back home.