On January 30, Blue Origin announced that it was suspending flights of its New Shepard spacecraft. The pause will last for at least two years. It is necessary in order to focus on the company’s lunar projects.
What is New Shepard?
New Shepard is a suborbital system designed for space tourism. It consists of a reusable booster and a pressurized capsule that can carry up to six passengers or various payloads.
After separating from the booster, the capsule continues its flight along a suborbital trajectory and rises several kilometers above the Kármán line, which is considered the boundary of outer space. The people inside it experience weightlessness for 3–4 minutes. After that, the capsule descends by parachute, while the booster lands using its engines. The entire flight lasts about 10 minutes.
The first unmanned flight of New Shepard took place in 2015, and the first flight with passengers in 2021. In total, the spacecraft has flown 38 times. Twenty-one missions were unmanned (one of which ended in an accident), and 17 were with passengers. 92 people have crossed the Kármán line aboard New Shepard (6 of them have done so twice). The company’s clients included famous actors and singers such as Katy Perry and William Shatner, entrepreneurs, and people who made significant contributions to the development of aviation and space exploration.
Suspension of New Shepard flights
The announcement of the suspension of New Shepard flights was made just eight days after the 38th flight of the spacecraft. Five paying customers and one company employee, who replaced a sixth customer who fell ill before launch, participated in the flight. The flight proceeded according to the typical New Shepard scenario. During the broadcast, Blue Origin gave no hints about its plans. Moreover, the company recently announced its intention to increase the number of flights and that it has a multi-year order portfolio for New Shepard.
According to Blue Origin, the suspension of New Shepard flights is related to the desire to focus all resources on lunar projects. One of the main ones is the Blue Moon spacecraft. It is being developed in two configurations: Mark 1 and Mark 2. Mark 1 is designed for cargo transport. Mark 2 will be used in manned missions under the Artemis program and will deliver astronauts to the lunar surface.
On January 22, the first Mark 1 flight model left the assembly plant in Florida and was sent to Houston for thermal vacuum testing at the Johnson Space Center. Blue Origin has not yet announced a launch date for the vehicle. We only know that it won’t be part of the next New Glenn rocket launch, which is set for late February.
The decision to suspend New Shepard flights is likely related to NASA’s recent call for SpaceX and Blue Origin to accelerate the development of their lunar landers in order to ensure the launch of the Artemis III mission no later than 2028. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on January 30 that the agency was ready to support these efforts. “We are prepared to reconsider many of our demands in order to achieve our goal on time,” he said. “We are prepared to provide all the resources and expertise we have to ensure the success of these missions.”
According to Spacenews
