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New Shepard

New Shepard (NS-5) [Blue Origin]

The New Shepard vehicle for suborbital space tourism flights consists of the Propulsion Module first stage with a single BE-3 engine and a crewed capsule. The stage is recoverable and conducts powered vertical landing at the end of the mission, while the capsule lands by three parachutes, assisted by retro-rockets at the moment of landing.

On the first flight of New Shepard to a height of about 90 km, the capsule was successfully deployed and recovered via a parachute system, while the Propulsion module was not recovered due to a hydraulics problem.

On the second flight, the booster was successfully recovered. Both capsule and booster were re-flown in January 2016 and again successfully recovered. Three more flights and recoveries were conducted. In October 2016, the booster and capsule were used for an in-flight abort test at max-Q. Again, the capsule and the booster were recovered. Both were retired after this test.

Version Stage 1
New Shepard (1) Propulsion Module / BE-3PM
New Shepard (2) Propulsion Module / BE-3PM
No:       Type:             Flight        Date              LS      Payload

 3    1   New Shepard (1)   NS-1  #1-F1   29.04.2015   *r   CR      New Shepard CC1 M1 (RSS Jules Verne F2)
 4    2   New Shepard (1)   NS-2  #2-F1   23.11.2015   *    CR      New Shepard CC1 M2 (RSS Jules Verne F3)
 5    3   New Shepard (1)   NS-3  #2-F2   22.01.2016   *    CR      New Shepard CC1 M3 (RSS Jules Verne F4)
 6    4   New Shepard (1)   NS-4  #2-F3   02.04.2016   *    CR      New Shepard CC1 M4 (RSS Jules Verne F5)
 7    5   New Shepard (1)   NS-5  #2-F4   19.06.2016   *    CR      New Shepard CC1 M5 (RSS Jules Verne F6)
 8    6   New Shepard (1)   NS-6  #2-F5   05.10.2016   *A   CR      New Shepard CC1 M6 (RSS Jules Verne F7) (abort test)
 9    7   New Shepard (1)   NS-7  #3-F1   12.12.2017   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M1 (RSS H. G. Wells F1)
10    8   New Shepard (1)   NS-8  #3-F2   29.04.2018   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M2 (RSS H. G. Wells F2)
11    9   New Shepard (1)   NS-9  #3-F3   18.07.2018   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M3 (RSS H. G. Wells F3) (high altitude abort test)
12   10   New Shepard (1)   NS-10 #3-F4   23.01.2019   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M4 (RSS H. G. Wells F4)
13   11   New Shepard (1)   NS-11 #3-F5   02.05.2019   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M5 (RSS H. G. Wells F5)
14   12   New Shepard (1)   NS-12 #3-F6   11.12.2019   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M6 (RSS H. G. Wells F6)
15   13   New Shepard (1)   NS-13 #3-F7   13.10.2020   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M7 (RSS H. G. Wells F7)
16    1   New Shepard (2)   NS-14 #4-F1   14.01.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F1 (RSS First Step F1)
17    2   New Shepard (2)   NS-15 #4-F2   14.04.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F2 (RSS First Step F2)
18    3   New Shepard (2)   NS-16 #4-F3   20.07.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F3 (RSS First Step F3)
19   14   New Shepard (1)   NS-17 #3-F8   26.08.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M8 (RSS H. G. Wells F8)
20    4   New Shepard (2)   NS-18 #4-F4   13.10.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F4 (RSS First Step F4)
21    5   New Shepard (2)   NS-19 #4-F5   05.12.2021   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F5 (RSS First Step F5)
22    6   New Shepard (2)   NS-20 #4-F6   21.03.2022   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F6 (RSS First Step F6)
23    7   New Shepard (2)   NS-21 #4-F7   04.06.2022   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F7 (RSS First Step F7)
24    8   New Shepard (2)   NS-22 #4-F8   04.08.2022   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-2 F8 (RSS First Step F8)
25   15   New Shepard (1)   NS-23 #3-F9   12.09.2022   *F   CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M9 (RSS H. G. Wells F9)
26    9   New Shepard (2)   NS-24 #4-F9   19.12.2023   *    CR      New Shepard CC2.0-1 M10 (RSS H. G. Wells F10)


Planned:


Failures:

 8 (NS-6):  intentional abort to test the escape system. Booster and capsule survived
25 (NS-23): apparently engine failure at T+ 1m 4sec. Capsule saved by launch escape system


Launch sites:

CR  = Blue Origin West Texas Launch Site, Corn Ranch, Van Horn, Culberson County, Texas, USA USA


*   Suborbital
F   Failure
r   Recovery Failure
A   Abort

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