Blue Origin New Shepard Launch & Landing - Booster Payload Success

Blue Origin, the aerospace firm founded by Jeff Bezos, successfully conducted its initial spaceflight operation of 2020 today. The mission utilized a New Shepard rocket for a suborbital flight, departing from the company’s location in West Texas. This specific rocket has now completed seven flights, including the one today, representing the 13th overall flight for a New Shepard vehicle. Included in today’s mission was a trial run of NASA’s active landing sensor technology, intended for the development of an automated, accurate, and adaptable landing system for upcoming lunar landers.

The NASA landing system evaluation also represents a new milestone for Blue Origin – the first instance of testing a payload attached to the exterior of the New Shepard rocket. Previously, all payloads on New Shepard flights were contained within the capsule positioned above the booster. This external test was essential to gather data from the instruments that will deliver consistent, precise landing functionality to future spacecraft.

Although NASA has previously achieved lunar landings, the agency is working to enhance its landing technology. The upgrades aim to enable fully automated landings with significantly improved accuracy for reaching designated locations on the moon’s surface. Furthermore, the goal is to ensure spacecraft can perform these landings repeatedly and reliably, as NASA intends to create a sustained human research outpost on the moon through its Artemis program.

Several experiments were also carried within the capsule, which safely returned to Earth with the assistance of parachutes. This launch also incorporated a new heat shield for testing purposes, intended for use on future New Glenn flights. New Glenn represents Blue Origin’s next-generation spacecraft, designed for orbital payload launches, and will complement the current suborbital capabilities offered by New Shepard.