Corn Ranch

Corn Ranch is a spaceport in the West Texas town of Van Horn, Texas. The 670-square-kilometer (165,000-acre) land parcel was purchased by Internet billionaire Jeff Bezos. Current launch license and experimental permits from the US government Federal Aviation Administration authorize flights of New Shepard rockets.[1] The first flight test took place on November 13, 2006 with the goal of providing commercial tourist flights.[2]

Corn Ranch

Aerial view of Corn Ranch
Location	Van Horn, Texas
Coordinates	31°25′24″N 104°45′32″W
Operator	Blue Origin
Launch history Status Active Launches 17 First launch 13 November 2006 Goddard Last launch 14 January 2021 New Shepard Associated rockets Goddard (retired) New Shepard (active) Landing history Status Active Landings 16 First landing 13 November 2006 Goddard Last landing 14 January 2021 New Shepard Associated rockets Goddard (retired) New Shepard (active)

As of May 2015, Blue Origin has a staff of approximately 50 supporting the West Texas facility.[3]

The launch pad is located at 31.422927°N 104.757152°W / 31.422927; -104.757152, about 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the check-out building. The landing pad is located at 31.4517°N 104.7628°W / 31.4517; -104.7628, about 6.1 km (3.8 mi) north of a check-out building and 3.2 km (2 mi) north of the launch pad.

In addition to the suborbital launch pads, the West Texas site includes a number of rocket engine test stands. Engine test cells to support both hydrolox, methalox and storable propellant engines are present.

Included are three test cells just for testing the methalox BE-4 engine alone: two full test cells that can support full-thrust and full-duration burns, as well as one that supports short-duration, high-pressure preburner tests, to "refine the ignition sequence and understand the start transients."[4]