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New Shepard

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New Shepard
New Shepard rocket on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2017
FunctionLaunching tourists and cargo on a suborbital trajectory
ManufacturerBlue Origin
Country of originUnited States of America
Size
Height19.2m (63ft)
Diameter3.8 m (12.5 ft)
Mass75,000 kg (165,000 lb)
Stages1
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sitesLaunch Site One
Total launches31
Success(es)30
Failure(s)1
Landings29
First flightApril 29, 2015; 9 years ago (April 29, 2015)
Last flightApril 14, 2025
Single stage
Powered by1 × BE-3
Maximum thrust490 kN (110,000 lbf)
Burn time141 seconds
PropellantLH2 / LOX
[edit on Wikidata]

New Shepard is a fully reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism by Blue Origin. The vehicle is named after Alan Shepard, who became the first American to travel into space and the fifth person to walk on the Moon. The vehicle is capable of vertical takeoff and landings. Additionally, it is also capable of carrying humans and customer payloads into a sub-orbital trajectory.

New Shepard consists of a launch 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 one BE-3PM engine, which sends the capsule above the Kármán line, where passengers and cargo can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth.

The launch vehicle is designed to be fully reusable, with the capsule returning to Earth via three parachutes 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). The BE-3PM engine produces 490 kilonewtons (110,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff.[2]

History

[edit]
Timeline of Space­Ship­One, Space­Ship­Two, CSXT and New Shepard sub-orbital flights. Where booster and capsule achieved different altitudes, the higher is plotted. In the SVG file, hover over a point to show details.

The first development vehicle of the New Shepard development program was a sub-scale demonstration vehicle named Goddard that was built in 2006 following earlier engine development efforts by Blue Origin. Goddard was assembled at the Blue Origin facility in Kent, 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 to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, two further flights were performed by Goddard. Blue Engine 1, or BE-1, was the first rocket engine developed by Blue Origin and was used in the company's Goddard development vehicle. On the path to developing the New Shepard launch vehicle, a crew capsule was also needed, and design was begun on a space 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-scale suborbital 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 completed acceptance testing of the BE-3PM engine that would power the New Shepard launch vehicle. The company also announced that they intended to begin flight 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 the sub-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 the Collier 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 passengers Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen. The flight was approximately 10 minutes and crossed the Kármán 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 its fifth crewed mission launch and the sixth crewed flight took place on August 4, 2022. In September 2022, an uncrewed 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]

The return to flight mission happened on December 19, 2023.

On February 4, 2025, an uncrewed New Shepard rocket was launched. The NS-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 its Blue Origin NS-31 as part of the New Shepard Program. Passengers included Gayle King, Katy Perry, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, Lauren Sanchez, and Kerianne Flynn. The flight reached a peak altitude of 106 km and lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds. [11]

New Shepard vehicles

[edit]
The New Shepard Crew Capsule after a successful sub-orbital space flight.

New Shepard propulsion modules

[edit]

As of 2024, there have been five propulsion modules built. They are NS1, NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5.

New Shepard 1

[edit]

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 RSS Jules Verne.[16]

New Shepard 2

[edit]

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

[edit]

New Shepard 3 (NS3), also called "Tail 3",[13] along with capsule RSS H. 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 the regulatory regime of a launch 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 a test 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 the NS-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

[edit]

New Shepard 4 (NS4), also called "Tail 4",[13] which flies with capsule RSS First Step, was the fourth propulsion module to be built and the first to carry 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

[edit]

New Shepard 5 (NS5), which flies with capsule RSS Kármán Line, is Blue Origin's second crew-rated propulsion module. Manufactured to meet growing demand for New Shepard flights, it debuted on the NS-27 uncrewed flight, which flew on October 23, 2024, following aborted launch attempts on October 7, 2024, and October 13, 2024.[35][36]

New Shepard capsules

[edit]

As of 2024, four New Shepard capsules have been constructed. They are RSS Jules Verne, RSS H. G. Wells, RSS First Step, and RSS Kármán Line.


Flight list

[edit]
Launch No. Date Vehicle Apogee Passengers Outcome Notes
0 October 19, 2012
  • N/A
  • RSS Jules Verne
 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 Capsule recovered, 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
  • Rocket: 93.7 km (58.2 mi)
  • Capsule: 7.1 km (4.4 mi)[45]
 — 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
  • Rocket: 98.2 km (61.0 mi)
  • Capsule: 98.3 km (61.1 mi)[47]
 — 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 a mannequin. 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 by NASA).
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 the Artemis program.[56]
14 January 14, 2021
16:57[57]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.5 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
 — Success Qualification flight for NS4 rocket and capsule and maiden flight for NS4
15 April 14, 2021
16:51[58][59]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
 — Success Second flight of NS4, first preflight human passenger process test where Blue Origin conducted an "Astronaut Rehearsal." Gary Lai, Susan Knapp, Clay Mowry, and Audrey 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]
  • Rocket: 105.8 km (65.8 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.0 km (66.5 mi)
Success First flight of New Shepard with passengers.[65]
17 August 25, 2021
14:31[66]
  • Rocket: 105.8 km (65.7 mi)
  • Capsule: 105.9 km (65.8 mi)
 — 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]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.0 km (66.5 mi)
Success
19 December 11, 2021
10:50
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
Success
20 March 31, 2022
13:57[69]
  • Rocket: 107.0 km (66.5 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
Success
21 June 4, 2022
13:25[70]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.0 km (66.5 mi)
Success
22 August 4, 2022
13:56[71]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.5 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
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's launch escape system activated after the rocket's BE-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]
  • Rocket: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 107.1 km (66.5 mi)
 — 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)
  • Ephraim Rabin
  • Nicolina Elrick
  • Eugene Grin
  • Rob Ferl
  • Karsen Kitchen
  • Eiman Jahangir
 Success
27 October 23, 2024
15:27
Capsule: 101 km (63 mi) — Success First flight of Propulsion Module NS5 and capsule RSS Kármán 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
  • Rocket: 105.3 km (65.4 mi)
  • Capsule: 105.3 km (65.5 mi)[78]
 — Success Research mission on behalf of NASA, simulated lunar gravity by spinning the capsule at 11 rpm using the spacecraft's reaction control system. 30 payloads, 29 internal and one external.[79]
30 February 25, 2025
15:49
  • Rocket: 106.5 km (66.2 mi)
  • Capsule: 106.4 km (66.1 mi)[80]
Success
31 April 14, 2025
13:30
  • Rocket: 106.7 km (66.3 mi)
  • Capsule: 106.8 km (66.4 mi)[81]
Success

Design

[edit]
Mock-up of the New Shepard capsule at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2017

New Shepard is a fully reusable, vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) space vehicle composed of two principal parts: a pressurized crew capsule and a launch rocket that Blue Origin often calls a booster or propulsion module.[15] The New Shepard is controlled entirely by on-board computers, without ground control[6] or a human pilot.[82]

Launch rocket

[edit]

The launch rocket is powered by one BE-3PM engine with thrust vector control, fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid 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] The gimbaling engine nozzle and aft fins work together to steer the rocket, both using hydraulic actuators.[85]

Crew capsule

[edit]

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 during ascent.[86] The Crew Capsule Escape Solid Rocket Motor (CCE-SRM) is sourced from Aerojet 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 in zero-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 absorb g-forces.[91]

Flight profile

[edit]

New Shepard is launched 48 kilometres (30 mi; 26 nmi) north of Van Horn, Texas, at Launch 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 an apogee just above the Kármán 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 four landing legs.[92][93] The crew capsule descends afterward under three parachutes 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.

NASA suborbital research payloads

[edit]

NASA Suborbital Research Payloads

[edit]

"New Shepard offers flights to space over 100 kilometers for payloads inside our cabin or with direct exposure to the space environment. With minutes of high-quality microgravity or partial-G, access to the Kármán Line, and gentle return of payload, New Shepard is transforming access to space research."[95]

As of March 2011, 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.[96] 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 by Solstar that launched the first commercial Wi-Fi hotspot service in space and sent the first commercial Twitter message from space.[97][98] NASA provided a part of the $2 million project's funding as a part of its Flight Opportunities program.[99][100]

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]

Involvement with NASA Commercial Crew Development Program

[edit]

Blue Origin received US$3.7 million in Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) phase 1 to advance several development objectives of its innovative "pusher" Launch Abort System (LAS) and composite pressure vessel.[101]

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.[102]

References

[edit]
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