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The article reports on the space exploration projects being undertaken by Blue Origin LLC, which was founded by Jeff Bezos, the founder of American online retailer Amazon.com Inc. Blue Origin has been developing a suborbital spacecraft which is capable of launching like a rocket and carry at least three people to space. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is capable of placing 45 tonnes in low Earth or 13 tonnes to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The article focuses on availability of suborbital planes for space tourism and mentions different sciences like academic and intellectual pursuits, process in physics, chemistry and creativity, and innovation of weightlessness. Topics discussed include goal of Suborbital Research Association in promoting suborbital and technical research, new environment faced by space travelers due to weightlessness, and strategies of companies like Blue Origin for developing credibility of access to space.

The article informs that the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) has adopted the experimental hypersonic rocket-powered X-15, capable of suborbital space flight, on October 15, 1958 at the North American Aviation plant near Los Angeles. It is noted that in 1961, all X-15 pilots were presented with Accutron watches suited to the harsh cockpit environments of experimental aircraft and space capsules.

The article reports that the first domestic British satellite launch vehicle in half a century is currently undergoing testing at various locations in Great Britain and the ambitious plans of launch vehicle provider Skyrora Ltd. include a series of small test launches, followed by a liquidfuelled sub-orbital sounding rocket leading to a fully-fledged orbital vehicle. Topics include the Skyrora SK-1 is the company's sub-orbital launch vehicle.

The article discusses what scientist astronauts need to do to prepare themselves to fly to over 100 kilometers altitude into suborbital space. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and XCOR Aerospace's Lynx rocket-planes will be offering low-cost space access. The author joined a three-day training course at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center in Philadelphia to experience the physical demands and challenges of human spaceflight.

The article reports that the Space Agency of Great Britain is soliciting ideas for new science experiments involving commercial sub-orbital flights which will help the Agency appreciate potential future demand for such platforms from the science community. Topics discussed include the submission process being adopted by the agency, research areas welcomed by the agency, and details of the proposals.

The article discusses the future of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) of the European Space Agency (ESA), after its completion of a near-flawless suborbital flight on February 11, 2015. Topics discussed include Italian proponents open to new possibilities of a successor but not for some within ESA, and ESA confident of convincing member states and their governments to support further development through Programme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator in Europe (PRIDE).

This section offers space science news briefs. Iran announces that it has sent a monkey on a suborbital flight in preparation for a manned mission in 2020. Ball Aerospace and Technologies launched its new thermal vacuum chamber at its facility in Boulder, Colorado. Canadian Space Agency Steve MacLean will step down the agency effective February 1, 2013.