New Shepard suborbital system Blue Origin

new shepard launch on april 29, 2015.

blue origin s new shepard suborbital spaceflight system composed of 2 vehicles: crew capsule accommodating 3 or more astronauts launched rocket booster. 2 vehicles lift off , designed separate during flight. after separation, booster designed return earth perform vertical landing while crew capsule follows separate trajectory, returning under parachutes land touchdown. both vehicles intended recovery , re-use. new shepard controlled entirely on-board computers. in addition flying astronauts, new shepard intended provide frequent opportunities researchers fly experiments suborbital space.

new shepard landing parachutes on april 29, 2015.

a federal aviation administration notam indicated flight test of suborbital test vehicle – pm2 – scheduled august 24, 2011. flight in west texas failed when ground personnel lost contact , control of vehicle. blue origin released analysis of failure on september 2. vehicle reached speed of mach 1.2 , 14 km (46,000 ft) altitude, flight instability drove angle of attack triggered [the] range safety system terminate thrust on vehicle.

on october 19, 2012, blue origin conducted successful new shepherd pad escape test @ west texas launch site, firing pusher escape motor , launching full-scale crew capsule launch vehicle simulator. crew capsule traveled altitude of 703 m (2,307 ft) under active thrust vector control before descending safely parachute soft landing 500 m (1,630 ft) downrange.

in april 2015, blue origin announced intent begin autonomous test flights of new shepard in 2015 monthly. blue origin expected series of dozens of flights on extent of test program [taking] couple of years complete.

on april 29, 2015, new shepard made first test flight. uncrewed vehicle flew planned test altitude of more 93.5 km (307,000 ft) , achieved top speed of mach 3. crew capsule separated booster before returning earth landing under parachutes.

on november 23, 2015, new shepard made second test flight, reaching 100.5 km (330,000 ft) altitude successful recovery of both crew capsule , booster. booster performed powered vertical landing.

on january 22, 2016 blue origin re-flew same new shepard booster launched , landed vertically in november 2015, demonstrating reuse. time, new shepard reached apogee of 333,582 feet (101.7 kilometers) before both capsule , booster returned earth recovery , reuse.

new shepard booster , crew capsule after retirement

on april 2, 2016, same new shepard booster flew third time, reaching 339,178 feet (103.8km), before returning successfully.

on june 19, 2016, same new shepard booster again flew, fourth time, again reaching on 330,000 feet, before again returning successfully.

a fifth , final test flight of second booster , test capsule took place in october 2016. blue origin plan fly test astronauts 2018.