New Shepard

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 3.2km 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 and 1 failure. The launch vehicle has a length of , a diameter of and a launch mass of . The BE-3PM engine produces of thrust at liftoff.

History

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. A second test flight was scheduled for December 2, but never took place.

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 under active thrust vector control before descending safely by parachute to a soft landing downrange.

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 akinga couple of years to complete". 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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

New Shepard vehicles

New Shepard propulsion modules

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

New Shepard 1

The first flight of the full-scale New Shepard vehicle was NS1, also called "Tail 1" and was conducted on April 29, 2015, during which an altitude of 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. The capsule was called RSS ''Jules Verne''.

New Shepard 2

The New Shepard 2 (NS2), also called "Tail 2", 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

New Shepard 3 (NS3), also called "Tail 3", along with capsule RSS ''H. G. Wells'', 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,Blue Origin enlarges New Glenn’s payload fairing, preparing to debut upgraded New Shepard
Caleb Henry, SpaceNews, accessed September 15, 2017. although parts of it had been built as early as March 2016. Flight tests began in 2017 and continued into 2019. The new Crew Capsule 2.0, featuring windows, was integrated to the NS3. NS3 was only ever be used to fly cargo; no passengers were carried (as was originally planned for NS3).first time we've had two rockets in the barn in West Texas
Blue Origin, December 17, 2018, accessed December 26, 2018.

Its initial flight test occurred on December 12, 2017.
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".

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. The second test flight took place on April 29, 2018. 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. The flight launched on January 23, 2019, and successfully flew to space with a maximum altitude of .New Shepard makes 10th launch as Blue Origin aims to fly humans late in 2019
Eric Berger, ''Ars Technica''. January 23, 2019, accessed January 26, 2019. 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).

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. This was the ninth flight of NS3, and the flight was not carrying any people on board.

New Shepard 4

New Shepard 4 (NS4), also called "Tail 4", 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. The vehicle was manufactured in 2018 and moved to the Blue Origin West Texas launch facility in December 2019. The uncrewed maiden launch of NS4 occurred on January 14, 2021. 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. 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.

New Shepard 5

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.

New Shepard capsules

, four New Shepard capsules have been constructed. They are , , , and .

Flight statistics

Launch payload

Capsule used

Launch outcomes

Landing outcomes

Flight list

Design

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. The New Shepard is controlled entirely by on-board computers, without ground control or a human pilot.

Launch rocket

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

Crew capsule

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. The Crew Capsule Escape Solid Rocket Motor (CCE-SRM) is sourced from Aerojet Rocketdyne. The interior volume of the capsule is , containing 6 windows, 6 reclined seats, and handholds for ease of movement in zero-g. At the center of the capsule is a cylinder housing the crew escape system. 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). 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.

Flight profile

New Shepard is launched north of Van Horn, Texas, at Launch Site One (LS1), and conducts a powered flight for about 110 seconds, up to an altitude of .

The rocket and capsule then continue coasting upwards due to their momentum, reaching an apogee just above the Kármán Line at . 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. 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. 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

, 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 altitude in flights of approximately ten minutes duration, while carrying an research payload. By March 2016, Blue Origin noted that they are "due to start flying unaccompanied scientific payloads later n 2016" 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. NASA provided a part of the $2 million project's funding as a part of its Flight Opportunities program.

On 12 September 2022,18 NASA payloads were flying on NS-23 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.

Involvement with NASA Commercial Crew Development Program

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.

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.

References

External links

* Blue Origin Official website
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Blue's Rocket Clues
(MSNBC's Cosmic Log, June 24, 2006)


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* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090617195547/http://spacefellowship.com/News/?cat=40 Latest Blue Origin news on the Space Fellowship
Secretive Spaceship Builder's Plans Hinted at in NASA Agreement Commercial Crew Development Blue Origin
(2 new craft images)

;Videos

Images and videos at Blue Origin

New Shepard space vehicle first successful soft landing
November 23, 2015 (YouTube)

{{Crewed spacecraft

Blue Origin launch vehicles
Space tourism
Private spaceflight
Reusable launch systems
VTVL rockets
Suborbital spaceflight
Vehicles introduced in 2015
Alan Shepard