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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Blue Origin launched its sixth crewed New Shepard flight so far this year Oct. 8 as the company works to increase the vehicle’s flight rate.
New Shepard lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:40 a.m. Eastern. The crew capsule, RSS First Step, reached a peak altitude of 106 kilometers before landing under parachutes a little more than 10 minutes after liftoff, about three minutes after the booster performed a powered vertical landing.
The NS-36 mission carried six customers. The identity of one was not disclosed before launch at the request of that individual, but Blue Origin announced after landing that person was Will Lewis, the chairman of a biotech company and a former investment banker.
The other five included Clint Kelly III, who previously flew on New Shepard on the NS-22 mission in August 2022. He is the sixth person to make two flights on the vehicle.
“The repeat customers, I think without exception, are flying again because they spent too much time doing somersaults and not enough time absorbing what they’re really doing, right? They’re leaving the planet,” said Phil Joyce, the Blue Origin senior vice president for New Shepard, said in a Sept. 28 presentation at the Global Spaceport Alliance’s International Spaceport Forum in Sydney.
However, he noted some customers elect to remain in their seats during the few minutes of microgravity, illustrating that with a picture of Kelly from the NS-22 mission. Blue Origin planned to interview Kelly on the webcast to discuss the experience of his second flight, but called it off, citing communications problems.
This was the eighth flight for New Shepard so far this year, including two flights that carried only research payloads. Joyce said at the forum that the company intended to move from its current rate of nearly monthly flights to “approximately weekly” flights in the next two years.
That will be enabled by three New Shepard vehicles Blue Origin plans to add to its fleet, joining the current two-vehicle fleet. Joyce said those new vehicles will feature improvements, including an upgrade to its BE-3 engine, to decrease turnaround time and lower costs.
The increased flight rate is driven by what Joyce said was continued strong interest from customers. “The demand is really strong,” he said. “We’re continuing to see sales every week, every day,” with a backlog that currently stretches more than a year.
Moving to weekly flights, he said, would max out the capacity at Launch Site One. The company is considering new sites for New Shepard launches, which could include locations outside the United States.
“We’re trying to find a partner that’s willing to invest” in a new launch site, Joyce said. “We’re just thinking about where we can get the best partner that adds to the diversity of it.”
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