New Shepard

New Shepard is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL), crew-rated suborbital launch vehicle created by Blue Origin as a way to boost space tourism.

In 2021, the first fully automated spaceflight with civilian passengers, was launched with a New Shepard rocket.

The name New Shepard is named after the first American astronaut in space, Alan Shepard, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts.

As of 2023's fourth quarter, the last flight with a crew, was done in August 2022.

History
Blue Origin planned its first crewed test flight - Blue Origin NS-16 - to occur in 2019, which was however delayed until 2021. Chris Bergin, NASASpaceflight.com, 28 November 2018

The first passenger flew on 20 July 2021 having purchased the seat at auction for $28 million; however, this auction passenger later dropped out and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen was selected to fly.

References

Category:Rockets