US space agency NASA has successfully tested an emergency abort system for the space shuttle's successor, Orion, at a remote test site in the New Mexico desert.
The emergency system used powerful rocket motors to blast the crew module off the launch site Thursday, shooting it 1.9 kilometres into the air in six seconds at high rates of speed, then wafting it back to Earth on a parachute.
"This system is much more advanced in capability and technology than any abort system designed in the past," said Doug Cooke, a NASA associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate based in Washington.
"NASA strives to make human spaceflight as safe as possible, and what we learnt here today will greatly contribute to that goal," he said in a statement after the launch.
The space agency said the test lasted 135 seconds from launch to touchdown 1.
