New Shepard

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 launches30
Success(es)29
Failure(s)1
Landings28
First flight29 April 2015; 9 years ago (29 April 2015)
Last flight25 February 2025
Single stage
Powered by1 × BE-3
Maximum thrust490 kN (110,000 lbf)
Burn time141 seconds
PropellantLH2 / LOX

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]

  1. ^ Jones, Caleb. "New Shepard | NS-1". Space Launch Now. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Human Spaceflight Launch Service Providers 2022". New Space Economy. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

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