New Shepard

New Shepard is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL), the crew-rated suborbital launch vehicle that is being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism. The name New Shepard makes reference to the first American astronaut in space, Alan Shepard, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, who ascended to space on a suborbital trajectory similar to that planned for New Shepard. Blue Origin paused New Shepard launches on January 30th, 2026 for no less then 2 years to shift resources and accelerate development of the company's human lunar capabilities.