Where does space begin and what is the Kármán Line, the keys to the dispute between Bezos and Richard Branson

07/12/2021 15:00

• Clarín.com

• Technology

Updated 07/12/2021 3:00 PM

When everything seemed to indicate that Jeff Bezos was going to become the first space tourist in history, 

Virgin Galactic, with billionaire Richard Branson in the front row,

went ahead by nine days.

However, the controversy has only just begun: from Blue Origin, the aerospace company of the founder of Amazon, they point out that

Branson's ship did not exceed the so-called Kármán limit

,

the boundary between atmosphere and space.

The Virgin founder was not supposed to fly until the end of this year.

But to take advantage, he changed his plans when he learned that Bezos was taking off on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

To lower the price, the founder of Amazon remarked that the flight into space of billionaire Richard Branson should not be considered as such since he

did not reach sufficient altitude (100 kilometers),

 something that he assured himself will achieve with his manned trip on the Blue Origin.

From the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name.

For 96% of the world's population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized Kármán line.

pic.twitter.com/QRoufBIrUJ

- Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 9, 2021

"For 96% of the world's population,

space begins 100 kilometers high

on the internationally recognized Kármán line,

" Bezos's company wrote on Twitter.

The Kármán line is considered the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space

, for the purposes of aviation and astronautics.

This definition is accepted by the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI), which is an organization dedicated to setting international standards and recognizing records in this field.

This altitude was estimated at 100 km above sea level by Theodore von Kármán, calculating the height at which

the density of the atmosphere becomes so low

that the speed of an aircraft to achieve aerodynamic lift through wings and propellers should be comparable to the orbital speed for the same height, so that reached that height by these means the wings would no longer be valid to maintain the ship.

Lack of consensus 

Virgin Galactic's ship in full ascent AFP photo

However, the consensus around this limit is not unanimous.

The United States government itself uses different definitions of space.

NASA and the FAA grant astronaut wings to those who exceed 80 kilometers in altitude, but NASA Mission Control formally considers that

the limit with space is still beyond the Kármán line: at 122 kilometers

.

As each millionaire has his own rule, Bezos's argument is that the Virgin Galactic ship did not

manage to exceed 50 miles, therefore, it never made it to space.

Virgin Galactic has not commented on the Blue Origin 'attack', but their test pilot Nicola Pecile wrote a tweet, which was later deleted, stating that the competition for the Kármán line "

is so childish that it is getting really embarrassing to see

. "

Before takeoff, Virgin Galactic made three trips that exceeded the altitude of 80 kilometers.

Its last manned flight in May this year reached 88.5 kilometers at its highest point

.

Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, in the private space race.

AFP photo

For this reason, Bezos returned to the charge and pointed out that “only 4% of the world recognizes the 80 kilometer limit.

New Shepard flies above both of them.

One of the many benefits of traveling with Blue Origin, "the company said in a statement about the mission of its aircraft.

The competitors

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and considered the third man in contention for the space tourism race among the richest men in the world, did not comment on the controversy.

On Sunday he traveled to New Mexico to see and congratulate Branson on a "beautiful flight."

The big difference from Branson is that Blue Origin and SpaceX fly it using capsules atop rockets,

rather than a reusable air-launched space plane like Virgin Galactic.

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin flights last approximately 10 minutes, with about three minutes of weightlessness.

But the comebacks are quite different:

Virgin Galactic's rocket plane glides down to a runway

, like the old NASA space shuttles did, with a couple of pilots at the helm.

Following Sunday's success, Virgin Galactic is planning two more test flights to begin regular commercial operations in early 2022. And in the long term, it aims to fly 400 flights a year from Spaceport America.

SL

Look also

Richard Branson went to space and beat Jeff Bezos in the billionaire race

Jeff Bezos lowers the price of Richard Branson's flight: "It doesn't have enough altitude to be spacey"