Technology

Itnot easy for budget-conscious founders to part with cold, hard cash. Or for time-strapped investors to push a to-do item higher up the priority list. But do it you must if you plan to attend Disrupt San Francisco 2018 on September 5-7 (and if you aren&t planning to go, you have some splainin& to do).

On July 25, the prices go up on passes to Disrupt SF 2018, and while these three program-packed days provide outstanding value at any price, therejust no reason to pay more if you don&t have to. Go buy your passes today and — depending on the type of pass you purchase — you can save up to $1,200 for your trouble.

Lettalk about experience and the content you can expect at Disrupt SF 2018. First, we&ve moved to seriously comfortable digs over at Moscone Center West, which also triples the amount of our floor space. Thereplenty of room for the 10,000 attendees — plus more than 1,200 startups and exhibitors you&ll find showcasing an amazing array of tech in Startup Alley. This huge, vibrant exhibit hall is the pulse of Disrupt and a veritable vortex of networking, collaboration and opportunity.

And when you&re exploring Startup Alley, don&t forget to swing by and check out the 50+ startups that earned a Tech Crunch Top Pick designation. We chose five companies to represent each of these 12 category tracks: AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, Biotech, Fintech, Gaming, Healthtech, Privacy/Security, Space, Mobility, Retail or Robotics. Ita phenomenal cohort, indeed.

Of course, Disrupt events always feature tech glitterati, business titans, fearless founders and leading investors, and Disrupt SF 2018 is no exception. Our stellar roster of speakers includes, among many others, Sophia Amoruso, CEO, GirlBoss; Roelof Botha, partner, Sequoia Capital; and Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO, Dropbox. You can take a look at the full lineup of speakers here.

Itnot Disrupt without Startup Battlefield, the premier startup competition and hands-down the best platform from which to launch an early-stage company to the world. In keeping with the bigger, better, bolder nature of DSF &18, we&ve doubled the prize money, and this yearchampion will claim $100,000 in non-equity cash. Startup Battlefield is always a wild ride, and given the stakes, you do not want to miss this one.

Startup Battlefield isn&t the only Disrupt event to get the super-size treatment. We upped the ante on the hackathon, too by making it a Virtual Hackathon open to anyone anywhere in the world. Thousands of the worldbest hackers, developers and programmers are hard at work. Come to Disrupt and see what tech magic they&ve conjured. Who knows, you might just witness The Next Big Thing.

We&re still just scratching the surface of Disrupt. Enjoy interactive workshops and Q-A Sessions, find the founder/investor of your dreams with CrunchMatch, our easy-peasy networking platform, collect swag and, whatever you do, don&t miss the after party.

Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place on September 5-7 at Moscone Center West. The price increase goes into effect on July 25 at 5 p.m. PST. Don&t miss your chance to get the best price possible. Buy your tickets today.

Today, at its Texas launch facility, Blue Origin preformed its most critical test to date. It preformed a live separation test of its crew capsule from the rocket booster and everything preformed as expected. The crew capsule fired its escape motor at the right time, sending the capsule higher than it ever has gone before. This successful test is a huge milestone for Jeff Bezos& rocket company, which previously stated, if the test went well could put the rocket company in position to become operation by the end of the year.

Todaytest was the ninth launch for Blue Origin and the third for the New Shepard rocket used in this test — over 20,000 people tuned into Blue OriginYouTube live stream to watch the test. Both the capsule and booster are designed to be reused.

The duration of the launch lasts around two and half minutes, at which point the engine cuts off. The capsule is designed to coast into space, while the booster drops back down, kicking in the landing gear and rocket-powered breaking system to land on the ground, unscathed. The capsule, meanwhile, using a pair of parachutes to coast back to Earth. From the looks of this morningvideo, things went precisely according to plan, with an ideal landing on both counts.

For the sake of the test, a mannequin was placed inside the capsule that Blue Origin hopes will one day sport living, breathing astronauts. &[The mannequin] probably peaked at 10 Gs,& said Blue Origin&sAriane Cornell, during the webcast. &But you know what That is well within what humans can take, especially within such a short spurt of time and in those reclined seats. Itjust important that we bring the astronauts home safely.&

The company expects tests with a human crew could commence as early as the end of this year. No timeline has been set for commercial flights, however.