Blue Origin Completes 27th Mission; Debuts New Human-Rated Vehicle

Today, Blue Origin’s 27th mission debuted the second human-rated vehicle for the New Shepard program, enabling expanded flight capacity to better meet growing customer demand. 

“We look forward to welcoming crew onboard RSS Kármán Line soon and offering the New Shepard flight experience to people across the world from all backgrounds,” said Phil Joyce, SVP, New Shepard. “On every New Shepard mission, we’ve witnessed people return to Earth changed by this experience, and with a renewed sense of commitment to preserve our planet.” 

The flight carried five payloads on the booster and seven inside the crew capsule, including tens of thousands of postcards flying as part of Club for the Future’s Postcards to Space program. Each postcard will be returned to its creator stamped “Flown to Space.” Digital postcards can be submitted here. 

If you’re interested in purchasing an astronaut seat on New Shepard, please visit here. For payload inquiries, go here. 

A full replay of today’s flight is available below. 

October 20, 2024

12:23 PM CDT

New Shepard’s updated target launch date is Wednesday, October 23. The #NS27 launch window opens at 10:00 AM CDT / 15:00 UTC from Launch Site One. Webcast begins 10 minutes prior to launch on BlueOrigin.com/live.

October 13, 2024

8:48 AM CDT

We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a GPS issue. New launch target forthcoming. #NS27 

8:19 AM CDT

New Shepard is in a hold as we continue working through our countdown procedures today. We’ll provide an update when we have a new T-0.

7:10 AM CDT

New Shepard is going through final checks in advance of today’s uncrewed verification flight to space. Our updated T-0 time is 08:27 AM CDT / 13:27 UTC. Live coverage starts 10 minutes prior to liftoff on blueorigin.com/live.

October 12, 2024

2:34 PM CDT

New Shepard's updated target launch date is tomorrow, October 13. The #NS27 window opens at 07:30 AM CDT / 12:30 UTC from Launch Site One. Webcast begins 10 minutes prior to liftoff on blueorigin.com/live. 

October 7, 2024

12:14 PM CDT

We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle issue that would’ve taken us beyond our launch window. New launch target forthcoming.

10:25 AM CDT

New Shepard is going through final checks in advance of today’s uncrewed verification flight. We’re running a bit ahead of schedule. The NS-27 launch window will open at 11:00 AM CDT / 16:00 UTC. Webcast begins 15 minutes prior to liftoff on blueorigin.com/live. 

7:19 AM CDT

New Shepard is on the pad. The launch team is working through the countdown procedures for our new vehicle and we’re adjusting our launch window to open at 11:10 AM CDT / 16:10 UTC. The webcast will begin 15 minutes prior to liftoff.

October 6, 2024 

We're "Go" to proceed to launch tomorrow, October 7. The NS-27 launch window opens at 8:00 AM CDT / 13:00 UTC from Launch Site One with live coverage beginning at 7:45 AM CDT on BlueOrigin.com. 

Blue Origin Debuts Second Human-Rated New Shepard Rocket To Meet Demand

October 4, 2024

Blue Origin’s next New Shepard flight, NS-27, will debut our second human-rated vehicle, enabling expanded flight capacity to better meet growing customer demand. The launch window for the uncrewed verification flight opens on Monday, October 7, at 8:00 AM CDT / 1300 UTC. The webcast will begin 15 minutes before liftoff on BlueOrigin.com. 

The new crew capsule is named RSS Kármán Line. The vehicle features technology upgrades to improve the vehicle’s performance and reusability, an updated livery, and accommodations for payloads on the booster. New Shepard remains one of the most sustainable rockets ever to fly to space. Nearly 99% of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear, and parachutes. 

NS-27 will fly 12 payloads—five on the booster and seven inside the crew capsule. Payloads include new navigation systems developed for New Shepard and New Glenn; two different LIDAR sensors for the Lunar Permanence program; ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors flying as part of a NASA TechFlights grant with Blue Origin’s Space Systems Development group; and a commercial payload that is a reproduction of black monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The monoliths are flying on behalf of Spacemanic for a special edition printed by Croatian publisher Amaranthine Books. 

The mission will also carry tens of thousands of student-designed postcards on behalf of Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s STEAM-focused nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and mobilize future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The organization has engaged more than 43 million students globally since its founding in 2019. Students can submit digital postcards here.  

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