.jpg) New Shepard rocket on display atEAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2017 | |
| Function | Launching tourists and cargo on a suborbital trajectory |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Blue Origin |
| Country of origin | United States of America |
| Size | |
| Height | 19.2m (63ft) |
| Diameter | 3.8 m (12.5 ft) |
| Mass | 75,000 kg (165,000 lb) |
| Stages | 1 |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | Launch Site One |
| Total launches | 31 |
| Success(es) | 30 |
| Failure(s) | 1 |
| Landings | 29 |
| First flight | April 29, 2015; 10 years ago (April 29, 2015) |
| Last flight | April 14, 2025 |
| Single stage | |
| Powered by | 1 ×BE-3 |
| Maximum thrust | 490 kN (110,000 lbf) |
| Burn time | 141 seconds |
| Propellant | LH2 /LOX |
New Shepard is afully reusablesub-orbitallaunch vehicle developed forspace tourism byBlue Origin. The vehicle is named afterAlan Shepard, who became thefirst American to travel into space and thefifth person to walk on the Moon. The vehicle is capable ofvertical takeoff and landings. Additionally, it is also capable of carrying humans and customer payloads into asub-orbital trajectory.
New Shepard consists of alaunch rocket and a crew capsule. The capsule can be configured to house up to six passengers, cargo, or a combination of both. The launch rocket is powered by oneBE-3PM engine, which sends the capsule above theKármán line, where passengers and cargo can experience a few minutes ofweightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth.
The launch vehicle is designed to be fully reusable, with the capsule returning to Earth via threeparachutes and a solid rocket motor. The rocket lands vertically on a landing pad 3.2 km north of the launch pad. The company has successfully launched and landed the New Shepard launch vehicle 29 times with 1 partial failure deemed successful[1] and 1 failure. The launch vehicle has a length of 19.2 meters (63 ft), a diameter of 3.8 meters (12 ft) and a launch mass of 75,000 kilograms (165,000 lb). TheBE-3PM engine produces 490 kilonewtons (110,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff.[2]
The first development vehicle of the New Sheparddevelopment program was a sub-scale demonstration vehicle namedGoddard that was built in 2006 following earlier engine development efforts byBlue Origin.Goddard was assembled at the Blue Origin facility inKent, Washington, United States and made its first flight on November 13, 2006.[3] A second test flight was scheduled for December 2, but never took place.[citation needed]
According toFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, two further flights were performed byGoddard. Blue Engine 1, or BE-1, was the first rocket engine developed by Blue Origin and was used in the company'sGoddard development vehicle. On the path to developing the New Shepard launch vehicle, a crew capsule was also needed, and design was begun on aspace capsule in the early 2000s. One development milestone along the way became public. On October 19, 2012, Blue Origin conducted a successful pad escape of a full-scalesuborbital crew capsule at its West Texas launch site. For the test, the capsule fired its pusher escape motor and launched from a launch vehicle simulator. The Crew Capsule traveled to an altitude of 703 m (2,307 ft) under active thrust vector control before descending safely by parachute to a soft landing 500 m (1,630 ft) downrange.[4][5]
In April 2015, Blue Origin announced that they had completedacceptance testing of theBE-3PM engine that would power the New Shepard launch vehicle. The company also announced that they intended to beginflight testing of the New Shepard later in 2015, with initial flights occurring as frequently as monthly, with "a series of dozens of flights over the extent of thesub-orbital test program [taking] a couple of years to complete".[6] The same month, the FAA announced that the regulatory paperwork for the test program had already been filed and approved, and test flights were expected to begin before mid-May 2015.[7] By February 2016, three New Shepard vehicles had been built. The first was lost in a test in April 2015, the second had flown twice (see below), and the third was completing manufacture at the Blue Origin factory in Kent, Washington, United States. In 2016, the Blue Origin team were awarded theCollier Trophy for demonstrating rocket reusability with the New Shepard human spaceflight vehicle.[8]
On July 20, 2021, the company successfully completed its first crewed mission,Blue Origin NS-16, into space using its New Shepard launch vehicle, carrying passengersJeff Bezos, his brotherMark Bezos,Wally Funk, andOliver Daemen. The flight was approximately 10 minutes and crossed theKármán line. New Shepard performed six crewed flights between July 2021 and August 2022, taking a mix of sponsored celebrities such as Wally Funk,William Shatner as well as paying customers. New Shepard ticket sales brought in $50 million through June 2022. The second and third crewed missions of New Shepard took place in October and December 2021. The fourth crewed flight happened in March 2022. On June 4, 2022, New Shepard completed itsfifth crewed mission launch and thesixth crewed flight took place on August 4, 2022. In September 2022, anuncrewed mission of the New Shepard had an anomaly due to a failure of the BE-3PM main engine. The launch escape system triggered and the capsule landed safely. The remaining New Shepard launch vehicles were grounded pending an FAA investigation into the incident. After a six-month investigation, Blue Origin pinpointed the cause of the anomaly as a thermal-structure failure of the BE-3PM engine nozzle caused a thrust misalignment that triggered the capsule's emergency escape system to activate. Blue Origin said in its press release that New Shepard flights would resume as soon as possible.
As of June 2022, the company had generated more than $100M from the New Shepard space tourism program.[9]
Thereturn to flight mission happened on December 19, 2023.
On February 4, 2025, an uncrewed New Shepard rocket was launched. TheNS-29 mission was intended to launch about 30 moon-related technologies.[10]
On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin completed a successful sub-orbital crewed mission of 6 women aboard itsBlue Origin NS-31 as part of theNew Shepard Program. Passengers includedGayle King,Katy Perry,Amanda Nguyen,Aisha Bowe,Lauren Sanchez, andKerianne Flynn. The flight reached a peak altitude of 106 km and lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds.[11]
As of 2024[update], there have been five propulsion modules built. They are NS1, NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5.
The first flight of the full-scale New Shepard vehicle was NS1,[12] also called "Tail 1"[13] and was conducted on April 29, 2015, during which an altitude of 93.5 km (58.1 mi) was attained. While the test flight itself was deemed a success, and the capsule was successfully recovered via parachute landing, the rocket crash landed and was not recovered due to a failure of hydraulic pressure in the vehicle control system during descent.[14][15] The capsule was called RSSJules Verne.[16]
The New Shepard 2 (NS2), also called "Tail 2",[13] flight test article propulsion module made five successful flights in 2015 and 2016, being retired after its fifth flight in October 2016.
New Shepard 3 (NS3), also called "Tail 3",[13] along with capsule RSSH. G. Wells,[17] was modified for increased reusability and improved thermal protection; it included a redesigned propulsion module and the inclusion of new access panels for more rapid servicing and improved thermal protection.NS3 was the third propulsion module built. It was completed and shipped to the launch site by September 2017,[18] although parts of it had been built as early as March 2016.[12] Flight tests began in 2017 and continued into 2019.[19] The new Crew Capsule 2.0, featuring windows, was integrated to the NS3.[18] NS3 was only ever be used to fly cargo; no passengers were carried (as was originally planned for NS3).[20]
Its initial flight test occurred on December 12, 2017.[21] This was the first flight flown under theregulatory regime of alaunch license granted by the FAA. Previous test flights had flown under an experimental permit, which did not allow Blue Origin to carry cargo for which it was paid for commercially. This made the flight of NS3 the first revenue flight for payloads, and it carried 12 experiments on the flight, as well as atest dummy given the moniker "Mannequin Skywalker".[22]
Since the maiden flight, "Blue Origin has been making updates to the vehicle ... intended primarily to improve operability rather than performance or reliability. Those upgrades took longer than expected" leading to a several-month gap in test flights.[19] The second test flight took place on April 29, 2018.[23] The 10th overall New Shepard flight, and the fourth NS3 flight, had originally been planned for December 2018, but was delayed due to "ground infrastructure issues". Following a diagnostics of the initial issue, Blue Origin rescheduled the launch for early 2019, after discovering "additional systems" that needed repairs as well.[24] The flight launched on January 23, 2019, and successfully flew to space with a maximum altitude of 106.9 km (66.4 mi).[25] It has been used to test SPLICE ("Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution"), a NASA lunar landing technology demonstration, on two separate flights in October 2020 (NS-13) and August 2021 (NS-17).[26]
New Shepard 3 rocket was destroyed during theNS-23 mission once it impacted the ground on September 12, 2022, after a rocket engine anomaly led to the activation of the in-flight abort system. The capsule made a successful landing under parachutes.[27] This was the ninth flight of NS3, and the flight was not carrying any people on board.[28][29]
New Shepard 4 (NS4), also called "Tail 4",[13] which flies with capsuleRSSFirst Step, was the fourth propulsion module to be built and the first tocarry human passengers. Bezos himself was a passenger.[30] The vehicle was manufactured in 2018 and moved to the Blue Origin West Texas launch facility in December 2019.[31] The uncrewed maiden launch of NS4 occurred on January 14, 2021.[32] NS4 was successfully launched on July 20, 2021, with four passengers; Jeff Bezos was aboard this maiden crewed flight. On October 13, 2021, NS4 successfully launched and landed, carrying four passengers, including notable passenger William Shatner.[33] On December 11, 2021,Blue Origin NS-19 successfully launched into space. This was the first time New Shepard carried six passengers, the full design passenger complement. In October 2024,National Air and Space Museum announced that Blue Origin had donated NS4 to be displayed in the museum.[34]
New Shepard 5 (NS5), which flies with capsuleRSSKármán Line, is Blue Origin's second crew-rated propulsion module. Manufactured to meet growing demand for New Shepard flights, it debuted on theNS-27 uncrewed flight, which flew on October 23, 2024, following aborted launch attempts on October 7, 2024, and October 13, 2024.[35][36]
As of 2024[update], four New Shepard capsules have been constructed. They areRSS Jules Verne,RSS H. G. Wells,RSS First Step, andRSS Kármán Line.
| Launch No. | Date | Vehicle | Apogee | Passengers | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | October 19, 2012 | 0.7 km (0.4369 mi) | — | Success | Pad abort test of the New Shepard capsule. | |
| 1 | April 29, 2015 | 93.5 km (58.1 mi) | — | Partial success | Capsulerecovered, rocket crashed on landing. Blue Origin deemed mission successful.[37] | |
| 2 | November 23, 2015 17:21 | 100.5 km (62.5 mi)[38] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing.[39] | |
| 3 | January 22, 2016 | 101.7 km (63.2 mi)[40] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket.[41] | |
| 4 | April 2, 2016 15:18 | 103.4 km (64.2 mi)[42] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket.[43] | |
| 5 | June 19, 2016 14:36 | 101.0 km (62.8 mi)[44] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket: the fourth launch and landing of the same rocket. Blue Origin published a live webcast of the takeoff and landing.[44] | |
| 6 | October 5, 2016 15:36 |
| — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket. Successful test of the in-flight abort system. The fifth and final launch and landing of the same rocket (NS2).[46] | |
| 7 | December 12, 2017 16:59 |
| — | Success | Flight to just under 100 km and landing. The first launch of NS3 and a new Crew Capsule 2.0.[48] | |
| 8 | April 29, 2018 17:06 | 107.0 km (66.5 mi)[49] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket.[23] | |
| 9 | July 18, 2018 15:11 | 118.8 km (73.8 mi)[17] | — | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused rocket, with capsule carrying amannequin. Successful test of the in-flight abort system at high altitude. Flight duration was 11 minutes.[17] | |
| 10 | January 23, 2019 14:05 | c. 106.9 km (66.4 mi)[25] | — | Success | Sub-orbital flight, delayed from December 18, 2018. Eight NASA research and technology payloads were flown.[50][51] | |
| 11 | May 2, 2019 13:34 | c. 105.5 km (65.5 mi)[52] | — | Success | Sub-orbital flight. Maximum Ascent Velocity: 3,568 km/h (2,217 mph),[52] duration: 10 minutes, 10 seconds. Payload: 38 microgravity research payloads (nine sponsored byNASA). | |
| 12 | December 11, 2019 17:53 | c. 104.5 km (64.9 mi)[53] | — | Success | Sub-orbital flight, Payload: Multiple commercial, research (8 sponsored by NASA) and educational payloads, including postcards from Club for the Future.[54][55] The sixth launch and landing of the same rocket.[53] | |
| 13 | October 13, 2020 13:37 | c. 107.0 km (66.5 mi) | — | Success | 7th flight of the same capsule/rocket. Onboard 12 payloads include Space Lab Technologies, Southwest Research Institute, postcards and seeds for Club for the Future, and multiple payloads for NASA including SPLICE to test future lunar landing technologies in support of theArtemis program.[56] | |
| 14 | January 14, 2021 16:57[57] |
| — | Success | Qualification flight for NS4 rocket and capsule and maiden flight for NS4 | |
| 15 | April 14, 2021 16:51[58][59] |
| — | Success | Second flight of NS4, first preflight human passenger process test where Blue Origin conducted an "Astronaut Rehearsal". Gary Lai, Susan Knapp, Clay Mowry, andAudrey Powers, all Blue Origin personnel, were "stand-in astronauts". Lai and Powers briefly entered the capsule during the test.[60] | |
| 16 | July 20, 2021 13:12[61][62] |
| Success | First flight of New Shepard with passengers.[65] | ||
| 17 | August 25, 2021 14:31[66] |
| — | Success | Payload mission consisting of 18 commercial payloads inside the capsule, a NASA lunar landing technology demonstration installed on the exterior of the rocket and an art installation installed on the exterior of the capsule.[67] | |
| 18 | October 13, 2021 14:49[68] |
|
| Success | ||
| 19 | December 11, 2021 10:50 |
|
| Success | ||
| 20 | March 31, 2022 13:57[69] |
|
| Success | ||
| 21 | June 4, 2022 13:25[70] |
|
| Success | ||
| 22 | August 4, 2022 13:56[71] |
|
| Success | ||
| 23 | September 12, 2022 14:27[28] | 11.4 km (7.1 mi)[28] | — | Failure[28] | Research mission with 36 commercial payloads on board including two on the exterior of the rocket.[72] The spacecraft'slaunch escape system activated after the rocket'sBE-3 main engine failed around a minute after liftoff leading to a loss of control. The capsule was safely recovered whilst the rocket was lost as it impacted on ground.[29][28] | |
| 24 | December 1, 2023 16:43[73] |
| — | Success | Successful Return to Flight mission following failure of NS-23 more than a year prior. 33 payloads and 38,000 Club for the Future postcards from students around the world.[74] | |
| 25 | May 19, 2024 13:30[75] | c. 106 km[76] |
| Success | ||
| 26 | August 29, 2024 13:07 | Capsule: 105.3 km (65.4 mi) |
| Success | ||
| 27 | October 23, 2024 15:27 | Capsule: 101 km (63 mi) | — | Success | First flight of Propulsion ModuleNS5 and capsuleRSSKármán Line. 12 payloads and tens of thousands of Club for the Future postcards. | |
| 28 | November 22, 2024 15:30 | Capsule 107.08 km (66.54 mi)[77] |
| Success | ||
| 29 | February 4, 2025 16:00 |
| — | Success | Research mission on behalf ofNASA, simulatedlunar gravity by spinning the capsule at 11rpm using the spacecraft'sreaction control system. 30 payloads, 29 internal and one external.[79] | |
| 30 | February 25, 2025 15:49 |
|
| Success | ||
| 31 | April 14, 2025 13:30 |
| Success |
New Shepard is afully reusable,vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) space vehicle composed of two principal parts: a pressurizedcrewcapsule and a launch rocket that Blue Origin often calls a booster orpropulsion module.[15] The New Shepard iscontrolled entirely by on-board computers, withoutground control[6] or a human pilot.[82]
The launch rocket is powered by oneBE-3PM engine with thrust vector control, fueled byliquid oxygen andliquid hydrogen.[83] Aft fins stabilize the rocket during ascent, steer it back to the landing pad during descent, and guide it effectively at speeds up to Mach 3. Ring and wedge fins near the top of the rocket provide aerodynamic stability and reduce fuel consumption during descent. Drag brakes are also deployed during descent to increase drag and reduce speed.[84] Thegimbaling engine nozzle and aft fins work together to steer the rocket, both using hydraulic actuators.[85]
The New Shepard crew capsule is a pressurized crew capsule designed to carry up to six people. It supports a "full-envelope"launch escape system that can separate the capsule from the launch rocket at any point duringascent.[86] The Crew Capsule Escape Solid Rocket Motor (CCE-SRM) is sourced fromAerojet Rocketdyne.[87] The interior volume of the capsule is 15 cubic meters (530 cu ft),[88] containing 6 windows, 6 reclined seats, and handholds for ease of movement inzero-g.[84] At the center of the capsule is a cylinder housing the crew escape system.[89] After separation from the launch rocket, three parachutes deploy for a soft landing. In the event of a parachute failure, the capsule can still land safely with one of three parachutes deployed. Before touchdown, a retro-thrust system at the bottom of the capsule expels nitrogen gas to slow the landing to approximately 3.2 km/h (2 mph).[90] Additionally, a crushable ring, 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) high, compresses upon impact on the underside of the capsule and acts as a decelerator to absorbg-forces.[91]
New Shepard is launched 48 kilometres (30 mi; 26 nmi) north of Van Horn, Texas, atLaunch Site One (LS1), and conducts a powered flight for about 110 seconds, up to an altitude of 40 km (25 mi; 22 nmi).
The rocket and capsule then continue coasting upwards due to their momentum, reaching anapogee just above theKármán Line at 100 km (62 mi; 54 nmi; 330,000 ft). Near this peak altitude, the crew capsule separates from the rocket. As the rocket nears the ground, its air brakes deploy and the engines restart as onboard computers autonomously bring the rocket for a vertical landing at the landing pad, where it deploys its fourlanding legs.[92][93] The crew capsule descends afterward under threeparachutes and a solid rocket motor. The crew capsule can also separate in case of a vehicle malfunction or other emergency using solid propellant separation boosters, then perform a parachute landing.[82][94] The total flight duration of the rocket is over 7 minutes, while the total flight time for the crew capsule is around 10 minutes.
As of March 2011[update], Blue Origin had submitted the New Shepard reusable launch vehicle for use as an uncrewed rocket for NASA's suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) solicitation under NASA's Flight Opportunities Program. Blue Origin projects 100 km (62 mi) altitude in flights of approximately ten minutes duration, while carrying an 11.3 kg (25 lb) research payload.[95] By March 2016, Blue Origin noted that they are "due to start flying unaccompanied scientific payloads later [in 2016]."[82] On April 29, 2018, during its eighth flight New Shepard carried the Schmitt Space Communicator SC-1x, a three-pound device developed bySolstar that launched the first commercialWi-Fihotspot service in space and sent the first commercialTwitter message from space.[96][97] NASA provided a part of the $2 million project's funding as a part of its Flight Opportunities program.[98][99]
On 12 September 2022,18 NASA payloads were flying on NS-23[72] when an in-flight failure of the rocket's main engine caused an emergency ejection of the payload capsule. The payload capsule landed safely and was recovered whilst the rocket was lost.[28]
Blue Origin received US$3.7 million inCommercial Crew Development (CCDev) phase 1 to advance several development objectives of its innovative "pusher"Launch Abort System (LAS) and compositepressure vessel.[100]
In February 2011, with the end of the second ground test nearly complete, the company completed all work envisioned under the phase 1 contract for the pusher escape system. They also "completed work on the other aspect of its award, risk reduction work on a composite pressure vessel" for the vehicle.[101]
Our first objective is developing New Shepard, a vertical take-off, vertical-landing vehicle designed to take a small number of astronauts on a sub-orbital journey into space. On the morning of 13 November 2006, we launched and landed Goddard – a first development vehicle in the New Shepard program.
We've recently completed acceptance testing, meaning we've accepted the engine for suborbital flight on our New Shepard vehicle, [the end of a] very, very long development program [of] 450 test firings of the engine and a cumulative run time of more than 500 minutes. The completion of those tests sets the stage for Blue Origin to begin test flights of the vehicle later this year at its facility in West Texas [where they] expect a series of flight tests with this vehicle ... flying in autonomous mode... We expect a series of dozens of flights over the extent of the test program [taking] a couple of years to complete.
The system consists of a pressurized capsule atop a booster. The combined vehicles launch vertically, accelerating for approximately two and a half minutes, before the engine cuts off. The capsule then separates from the booster to coast quietly into space. After a few minutes of free fall, the booster performs an autonomously controlled rocket-powered vertical landing, while the capsule lands softly under parachutes, both ready to be used again. Reusability allows us to fly the system again and again. ... The New Shepard capsule's interior is ... 530 cubic feet – offering over 10 times the room Alan Shepard had on his Mercury flight. It seats six astronauts. Three independent parachutes [on the capsule] provide redundancy, while a retro-thrust system further cushions [the] landing. ... Full-envelope escape [system] is built around a solid rocket motor that provides 70,000 lb. of thrust in a two-second burn.
New Shepard: Type: VTVL/Unpiloted
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