New Shepard
New Shepard is a fully reusable suborbital rocket system developed by Blue Origin, designed from the outset for human spaceflight and scientific research payloads, consisting of a booster powered by a BE-3PM liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine and a crew capsule capable of carrying up to six passengers to the edge of space.[1][2] The system, named after Alan Shepard—the first American astronaut to reach space—features a vertical takeoff and landing architecture that enables rapid reusability, with the booster deploying drag brakes and landing legs for a powered descent, while the capsule separates at apogee, reaches altitudes above the Kármán line (approximately 100 kilometers), and returns via parachutes and a retro-thrust system.[3][4][5] Launched from Blue Origin's West Texas facility, New Shepard follows a suborbital flight profile lasting about 11 minutes, propelling passengers to experience weightlessness and views of Earth against the blackness of space before returning to the launch site.[2][6] The vehicle's design prioritizes safety and reusability, with the BE-3PM engine providing 110,000 pounds of thrust and the overall system standing approximately 60 feet tall.[7][1] Since its first uncrewed test flight in 2015, New Shepard has achieved a success rate of over 97%, completing 36 flights by October 2025, including 15 crewed missions that have carried 86 individuals (80 unique) to space, marking milestones such as Blue Origin's inaugural human flight on July 20, 2021.[3][8][9] Beyond tourism, New Shepard supports microgravity research through customizable payload options, including internal lockers and external modules, fostering advancements in fields like biotechnology and materials science while advancing Blue Origin's broader vision of enabling millions to live and work in space.[10][11]Development and History
Early Development and Testing
Blue Origin was founded in September 2000 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in Kent, Washington, with the primary objective of enabling a future where millions live and work in space through the development of reusable suborbital launch vehicles.[12] The company's vision was inspired by the pioneering liquid-fueled rockets of Robert H. Goddard, emphasizing vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) reusability to reduce costs and enable frequent access to space.[12] Early development proceeded without government contracts, funded entirely by Bezos through annual investments derived from selling his Amazon stock, estimated at around $500 million by 2014.[12] Initial prototyping focused on demonstrating core VTVL technologies using low-cost, off-the-shelf components. The first vehicle, Charon—a 9,500-pound (4,300 kg) testbed powered by four vertically mounted aircraft jet engines—conducted its maiden flight on March 5, 2005, at Moses Lake, Washington, reaching an altitude of 316 feet (96 m) before a controlled landing to validate autonomous vertical landing systems.[13][14] This was followed by the larger Goddard vehicle (also known as Propulsion Module 1 or PM1), named after the rocket pioneer, which served as the initial development platform for the New Shepard program. Goddard, utilizing clustered hydrogen peroxide engines for propulsion, achieved its first successful suborbital hop on November 13, 2006, from Blue Origin's West Texas test site, ascending to approximately 279 feet (85 m) and landing intact to demonstrate basic rocket-powered VTVL operations.[15] Over the subsequent years through 2011, Goddard underwent multiple static fires, short-hop tests, and iterative improvements to refine guidance, navigation, and propulsion stability, though some attempts encountered setbacks such as vehicle loss during higher-altitude trials.[16][17] Parallel to vehicle prototyping, Blue Origin invested in proprietary engine technology to support scalable reusability. The BE-3, a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine producing 110,000 lbf (490 kN) of thrust, represented a major engineering challenge as the first new U.S.-developed hydrogen-fueled rocket engine in over a decade.[18] Development began in the early 2010s at Blue Origin's Seattle facility, incorporating a "tap-off" cycle for turbopump power and deep-throttling capability (down to 25% thrust) essential for precise landings.[18] Key milestones included accumulating over 160 hot-fire starts and 9,100 seconds of runtime by late 2013, culminating in a full mission-duration test simulating New Shepard's profile: 145 seconds at full thrust followed by shutdown and restart.[18] By 2015, acceptance testing confirmed the engine's reliability for flight, addressing issues like cryogenic handling and restart under vacuum conditions.[19] The culmination of early New Shepard development occurred through a series of uncrewed test flights in 2015 from the West Texas launch site, operating under FAA experimental permits. The maiden flight (NS-1) on April 29, 2015, marked the debut of the full-scale vehicle: the BE-3 engine performed nominally, accelerating to Mach 3 and propelling the capsule to an apogee of 307,000 feet (93.5 km)—above the U.S. definition of space at 50 miles (80 km)—with flawless guidance and in-space separation.[20] However, the booster experienced a hydraulic system pressure loss during descent, preventing recovery and highlighting challenges in reusable propulsion reliability.[20] The second flight (NS-2) on November 23, 2015, achieved full success, reaching 329,839 feet (100.5 km)—surpassing the international Kármán line—and demonstrating the first powered, propulsive landing of a suborbital booster, which touched down within 10 feet of the target after a three-engine throttle sequence.[21] These tests validated the integrated vehicle's reusability and set the stage for regulatory advancements, including the FAA's issuance of a commercial launch license in 2016 to enable expanded operations.[22]Milestones and Crewed Flights
New Shepard achieved its first major milestone in human spaceflight on July 20, 2021, with the successful launch of mission NS-16, carrying company founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen as the first paying customer.[23][24] This flight marked Blue Origin's entry into commercial crewed suborbital operations, reaching an apogee of approximately 107 kilometers above ground level and demonstrating the vehicle's capability for reusable human transport.[23] The program rapidly expanded with subsequent crewed missions, including NS-18 on October 13, 2021, which featured actor William Shatner as the oldest person to reach space at age 90 and Blue Origin Vice President of Missions Audrey Powers as the company's first female astronaut.[25] NS-19 followed on December 11, 2021, as the first mission with a full complement of six passengers, comprising mostly non-Blue Origin employees such as Laura Shepard Churchley (daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard) and media personality Michael Strahan, alongside paying customers.[26] These early flights were supported by the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of Blue Origin's human spaceflight operator license on July 12, 2021, enabling passenger-carrying operations through an integrated reservation system on the company's website.[27][28] A significant setback occurred on September 12, 2022, during the uncrewed NS-23 mission, when a thermo-structural failure in the BE-3 engine nozzle caused the booster to lose control about one minute after liftoff, triggering an abort of the crew capsule.[29] This anomaly led to a 15-month grounding, during which Blue Origin conducted redesigns and testing to address the root cause of overheating in the nozzle joint.[30] Operations resumed with the uncrewed NS-24 mission on December 19, 2023, marking the return to flight.[31] Crewed flights resumed with NS-25 on May 19, 2024, after the FAA closed its mishap investigation in September 2023.[32] By 2025, New Shepard operations achieved higher frequency, with crewed flights occurring approximately bi-monthly, culminating in NS-36 on October 8, 2025—the 36th overall mission and sixth crewed flight of the year.[9] Notable among these was NS-31 on April 14, 2025, Blue Origin's first all-women crew, consisting of Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez, highlighting diversity in space tourism.[33] As of October 2025, the program had flown 86 humans to space, including 80 unique individuals, through 15 crewed missions via a combination of reservation-based seats and sponsored participants.[8][34]Vehicle Design
Booster Configuration
The New Shepard booster serves as the reusable first stage of Blue Origin's suborbital launch vehicle, characterized by a height of approximately 12.5 meters and a diameter of 3.7 meters. Its airframe employs carbon fiber-composite construction to achieve a balance of lightweight design and structural integrity, enabling efficient performance during ascent and descent. For aerodynamic stability, the booster incorporates four main wedge-shaped actuated fins at its base, which guide the vehicle through atmospheric phases of flight. These fins contribute to precise control without relying on extensive propulsion adjustments.[1] Reusability is integral to the booster's design, featuring autonomous deployment of four landing legs that extend just prior to touchdown, allowing for a controlled vertical landing on a dedicated concrete pad at the launch site. During descent, the actuated fins provide steering capability, supplemented by drag brakes to manage velocity, ensuring the booster returns intact for rapid refurbishment and reflights. This configuration supports the booster's integration with the crew capsule, which separates at apogee before the booster performs its powered descent. The booster's development evolved from initial single-engine ground and low-altitude tests in the early 2010s, progressing through multiple uncrewed flights to refine structural reliability and landing precision. By 2025, the design had matured into its operational form, with individual boosters demonstrating exceptional durability; for instance, some boosters have exceeded 10 successful flights and landings by late 2025.[8] This track record underscores the booster's role in enabling frequent missions. In terms of mass and performance, the booster has an empty mass of roughly 7 metric tons and accommodates a propellant load of about 25 metric tons, consisting of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen stored in integrated cryogenic tanks. These parameters yield a thrust-to-weight ratio sufficient to propel the full vehicle to an apogee exceeding 100 kilometers, the boundary of space as defined by the Kármán line.Crew Capsule Features
The New Shepard crew capsule is a pressurized, reusable module designed to accommodate up to six passengers in a spacious interior volume of approximately 530 cubic feet, featuring a composite primary structure for lightweight durability and structural integrity during suborbital flight. Measuring roughly 5.5 meters in height and 3.8 meters in diameter, the capsule provides a zero-gravity cabin layout with reclined seats that allow passengers to unbuckle and float freely during the weightless phase of the mission, which lasts several minutes above the Kármán line. Every seat offers direct access to panoramic views through the capsule's windows, which are among the largest ever flown in spaceflight history, comprising one-third of the capsule's surface area and measuring up to 0.73 meters wide by 1.1 meters tall per pane to maximize visibility of Earth and space.[1][35][36] The interior incorporates autonomous flight controls, eliminating the need for onboard pilots, while life support systems maintain a shirtsleeve environment with regulated cabin pressure equivalent to sea level and sufficient oxygen supply for the entire 11-minute mission profile, ensuring passenger comfort without pressure suits. These systems include environmental controls for temperature, humidity, and air quality, tailored for short-duration suborbital exposure to microgravity. Below the crew seating area lies a dedicated payload bay configured with up to six standardized stacks, each supporting multiple lockers for research experiments, allowing integration of human-interactive payloads alongside passengers during flight.[1][37][10] Safety is paramount in the capsule's design, featuring an ablative heat shield on the base to protect against reentry heating, despite the suborbital trajectory's relatively low thermal loads compared to orbital missions. Descent relies on a trio of main parachutes for primary deceleration, with the system engineered for safe landing even if only two deploy, as demonstrated in testing. Just prior to touchdown, a retro-thrust mechanism fires nitrogen gas thrusters to reduce impact velocity to about 3 km/h, supplemented by a crushable energy-absorbing ring and shock-mitigating seats to minimize g-forces. An integrated launch escape system, using solid rocket motors to separate the capsule from the booster if anomalies occur, has been successfully tested three times across pad, in-flight, and post-separation scenarios, though it has not been activated during operational flights. Following the 2022 NS-23 booster anomaly—which did not affect the capsule—Blue Origin implemented upgrades including enhanced avionics for improved redundancy and structural reinforcements to bolster overall vehicle reliability.[38][37][39]Propulsion and Reusability
The New Shepard booster is propelled by a single BE-3PM engine, a turbopump-fed, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine utilizing a tap-off cycle for turbopump power.[40][19] This engine delivers up to 490 kN (110,000 lbf) of vacuum thrust and supports deep throttling from 18% to 100% of maximum thrust, allowing for precise velocity control during ascent and enabling the vertical landing maneuvers essential to the vehicle's reusability.[40] The hydrogen-oxygen combustion process produces only water vapor as exhaust, minimizing environmental impact compared to kerosene-based alternatives.[1] The reusability of New Shepard relies on autonomous recovery sequences for both the booster and crew capsule. After separation, the booster coasts to apogee, then orients for descent and relights the BE-3PM engine to perform a hover-slam powered landing, igniting the engine at low altitude to decelerate to approximately 6 mph (9.7 km/h) for a gentle touchdown on the concrete launch pad at Launch Site One in West Texas.[1] The crew capsule, meanwhile, deploys drogue and main parachutes following apogee, descending to a soft landing in the surrounding Texas desert, where it is recovered by ground teams.[1] Engine iterations have progressed to enhance reliability and performance. Initial BE-3 engines underwent ground and early flight testing in the 2010s, evolving into the production-qualified BE-3PM variant that powers operational New Shepard missions.[41] Following the thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle during the uncrewed NS-23 mission in September 2022, Blue Origin implemented corrective actions, including design modifications to the nozzle assembly, to prevent recurrence and restore flight certification.[29] Following NS-23, Blue Origin implemented engine modifications for reliability, with ongoing efforts to support higher flight rates as of 2025.[42] This reusability architecture enables efficient operational cycles, with individual boosters achieving reflight turnaround times of approximately two months between missions, as demonstrated by early reuse examples like the November 2015 to January 2016 flights—though faster turnarounds of around 20 days have been achieved in recent years.[43][44] By avoiding the need to manufacture new vehicles for each launch, the system achieves qualitative cost savings through reduced production and refurbishment expenses, aligning with Blue Origin's goal of making routine space access more affordable.[11] The design continues to support increased flight cadence in 2025, with missions like NS-36 demonstrating ongoing reliability.[8]Flight Operations
Mission Profile
A typical New Shepard mission follows a fully autonomous suborbital trajectory designed to carry crew and payloads above the Kármán line for brief periods of microgravity. The entire flight spans approximately 11 minutes from liftoff to capsule landing, with about 3 minutes of weightlessness experienced by occupants.[1][45] The sequence commences at T-0 with ignition of the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen BE-3 engine on the booster, propelling the vehicle upward from the launch pad in West Texas. During ascent, the stack encounters maximum dynamic pressure (max-Q) approximately 1 minute after liftoff, after which acceleration continues unimpeded. The booster reaches Mach 3 approximately 2.5 minutes into the flight, at which point main engine cutoff occurs, followed immediately by stage separation at an altitude of about 60 km; the capsule then coasts ballistically while the booster initiates its powered descent.[46][47][48][49] Post-separation, the booster performs an approximately 5-minute descent using its engine for a controlled vertical landing near the launch site, guided by aerodynamic fins and retrothrust. Meanwhile, the crew capsule reaches apogee at roughly 107 km altitude, where passengers experience 3 to 4 minutes of microgravity before reentry begins; drogue parachutes deploy at about 6 km, followed by main parachutes, culminating in a soft landing under three parachutes and a brief retro-rocket burst approximately 7 minutes after separation.[50][37][31] Guidance throughout the mission is entirely autonomous, relying on an integrated GPS and inertial measurement unit (IMU) system for navigation, with real-time telemetry streamed to ground control at Blue Origin's facilities in West Texas for monitoring.[51][1] Since its standardization in 2016 following early test flights, the profile has seen only minor adjustments between crewed and uncrewed variants, primarily in payload configuration and safety protocols rather than core dynamics.[48][40]Launch Facilities and Logistics
Launch Site One, Blue Origin's primary facility for New Shepard missions, is situated approximately 30 miles north of Van Horn, Texas, in Culberson County within the Guadalupe Mountains region, at coordinates 31°25′N 104°45′W. This private spaceport encompasses essential ground infrastructure, including the launch pad from which New Shepard vehicles vertically take off and land, a dedicated landing pad for precise booster recovery, a vertical integration hangar for vehicle assembly, an integration facility for payload and crew capsule preparation, and a mission control center that oversees autonomous flight operations. The site's remote location minimizes public risk while providing expansive airspace for suborbital trajectories, supporting the vehicle's reusability goals with 99% of dry mass recovered after each flight.[52][53][1][54] Mission logistics begin with vertical integration in the on-site hangar, where the reusable booster is stacked with the crew capsule and payloads are installed, ensuring a streamlined process for rapid turnaround. Propellant loading follows, utilizing cryogenic liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) stored in dedicated facilities, which are transferred to the BE-3 engine shortly before launch to maintain vehicle readiness. Crew preparation occurs at nearby training facilities, involving approximately 14 hours over two days focused on safety protocols, capsule familiarization, and emergency response, without piloting instruction due to the system's full autonomy. Pre-flight procedures include continuous medical monitoring to confirm crew fitness, fitting of customized flight suits for comfort and protection, and secure transport to the launch pad via specialized ground vehicles. All operations adhere to FAA licensing requirements, including pre-launch coordination for airspace closure and adherence to weather criteria such as visibility exceeding 5 km, absence of lightning within 10 nautical miles, and winds below 35 knots to ensure safe ascent and recovery.[1][55][56][57] Post-flight logistics emphasize rapid refurbishment to enable reusability, with the booster autonomously landing at about 6 mph (10 km/h) on the concrete pad for immediate inspections of structural integrity, propulsion systems, and avionics, often requiring only minor maintenance before reuse. The crew capsule, descending under parachutes to a soft landing in the surrounding desert, is retrieved by recovery teams, subjected to thorough decontamination, system diagnostics, and repacking of seats and life support elements, typically within days for subsequent missions. Blue Origin's 2025 announcements outlined expansion plans, including construction of additional integration and refurbishment facilities at Launch Site One and evaluation of a second site to support increased launch cadence beyond the 2025 rate of 7 flights.[1][42][8]Mission Statistics
Flight Chronology
The New Shepard program commenced with initial test flights in 2015, following earlier pad escape tests, and has conducted a total of 36 flights by October 2025, encompassing uncrewed research and precursor missions as well as crewed space tourism flights.[48] Notable events include the first crewed flight (NS-16 in July 2021), the all-women crew on NS-31 (April 2025), and failures such as the booster landing loss on NS-1 (2015) and the capsule parachute anomaly on NS-23 (2022). The program demonstrates increasing reliability and reusability, with apogees typically exceeding 100 km to cross the Kármán line.[58] By October 2025, New Shepard has achieved 36 flights, reflecting a shift toward higher crewed frequency—six in 2025 compared to three in 2021—as Blue Origin ramps up suborbital tourism operations.[9] NS-37 is projected for late November 2025 as an uncrewed research mission, but as of November 19, 2025, it has not yet launched.[8][59] The following table provides a chronology of early flights NS-1 through NS-19 (excluding the pre-2015 pad escape test designated NS-0), including key data points. Data is compiled from official records and independent tracking. Later flights (NS-20 to NS-36) follow a similar pattern, with a mix of crewed and uncrewed missions, consistent success rates post-NS-23, and apogees around 107 km. All landings were successful except for noted failures.[48]| Mission | Date | Type | Booster ID | Capsule ID | Payload/Crew Manifest | Apogee (km) | Booster Landing | Capsule Landing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NS-1 | April 29, 2015 | Uncrewed (test) | NS0 | CC1 | Test payloads | 93.5 | Failed (crashed) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-2 | November 23, 2015 | Uncrewed (test) | NS1 | CC1 | Test payloads | 100.5 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-3 | January 22, 2016 | Uncrewed (test) | NS1 | CC1 | Test payloads | 101.7 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-4 | April 2, 2016 | Uncrewed (test) | NS2 | CC1 | Test payloads | 103.5 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-5 | June 19, 2016 | Uncrewed (test) | NS2 | CC1 | Test payloads | 105.2 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-6 | October 7, 2016 | Uncrewed (test) | NS3 | CC1 | Test payloads | 112.1 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-7 | January 12, 2017 | Uncrewed (test) | NS3 | CC1 | Test payloads | 101.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-8 | February 24, 2017 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC2 | 12 payloads (NASA, universities) | 101.8 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-9 | April 29, 2017 | Uncrewed (test) | NS3 | CC2 | Test payloads | 106.9 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-10 | August 18, 2017 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC2 | 20+ payloads | 107.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-11 | October 5, 2017 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC2 | 15 payloads | 108.5 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-12 | December 18, 2017 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC3 | 9 NASA payloads | 106.9 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-13 | April 14, 2018 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC3 | 40+ payloads | 106.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-14 | August 13, 2018 | Uncrewed (research) | NS3 | CC3 | 30+ payloads | 107.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-15 | January 14, 2019 | Uncrewed (test) | NS3 | CC3 | Test payloads (escape system) | 106.1 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-16 | July 20, 2021 | Crewed (tourism) | NS4 | CC4 | Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, Oliver Daemen | 106.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-17 | October 13, 2021 | Crewed (tourism) | NS4 | CC4 | William Shatner, Audrey Powers, Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries | 107.0 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-18 | December 11, 2021 | Crewed (tourism) | NS4 | CC4 | Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan, Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess | 106.9 | Success (powered) | Success (parachute) |
| NS-19 | January 14, 2022 | Crewed (tourism) | NS4 | CC4 | Evan Dick, Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, Michael Strahan (wait, no: actually second flight for some, but crew: Evan Dick, Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, Farooq Ahmed, Alex Clavel? Standard: 6 passengers including repeats. | 107.0 | Success | Success |