Blog

The Design Behind Blue Origin’s New Shepard Launch Vehicle

Companies and agencies including Blue Origin have been working on expanding and increasing our access to space. While the company is hard at work on New Glenn, its BE-4 engines, and more, they have consistently been launching New Shepard. Each time taking more and more people to the edge of space. Here I want to take a closer look at the rocket responsible for these launches.

New Shepard continues to launch more people to the edge of space providing a once in a lifetime experience. New Shepard is unique in its design including, a single-stage, complex crew capsule, reusable design, and safety features. All of which work together and facilitate a safe and efficient launch out of our atmosphere. These features also help lower the cost and ensure New Shepard can continue to launch.

While Blue Origin is by no means a fan favorite within the space community, the company is making good progress. Not to mention that Blue Origin’s success is beneficial to the space industry and everyday people. While New Shepard is not taking humans to a different planet, it still provides the company with experience, increases our access to space, and inspires more people around the world.

New Shepard Background

New Shepard is a single-stage rocket named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to go to space. Prototype engine and vehicle flights began in 2006 and it was eventually finished in 2015. Since then New Shepard has flown multiple times carrying Jeff Bezos along with a large list of other passengers. During the flight, the first stage ignites and accelerates through the atmosphere. The first stage eventually releases from the crew capsule which reaches an apogee of around 106km above the ground.

Here the crew within experience weightlessness for a short period of time. Specifically, New Shepard is Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take humans along with research payloads past the Kármán line. The Kármán line is the internationally recognized boundary of space. Blue Origin mentions that “Whether you are an astronaut flying with Blue Origin or sending a payload to space, your 11-minute flight on New Shepard will be the experience of a lifetime.” This service is available to practically anyone, granted you are either specifically selected or have a significant amount of money to pay for the service.

New Shepard Features

Single Stage – The first important aspect and practically the entire rocket is the first and only stage of New Shepard. As I mentioned prior, New Shepard is a single-stage rocket. This means the rocket consists of the first stage with a crew capsule on top. One of the unique features of the first stage is its ability to be reused. A lot of work has gone into the design of the first stage to allow it to take off, return to Earth, and land safely on the same launch and landing pad it took off from. Starting at the top there are multiple ring and wedge fins. These are aerodynamically designed to stabilize the booster and reduce any fuel use while falling back towards Earth.

Next are the drag brakes also positioned at the top of the first stage. During the descent, the first stage picks up a lot of speed, these brakes are capable of reducing the booster’s speed by half when deployed. Towards the bottom is the aft fins. These play a very important role for stabilization during ascent, steering on the descent, and guiding the rocket through airspeeds of up to Mach 4. Powering the entire first stage is the BE-3 engine. This single-engine propels the rocket into space and restarts for a controlled landing on the pad. The engine has throttling capabilities allowing it to smoothly land the booster by itself. Lastly, you have the landing gear. With New Shepard being a reusable rocket, it needs landing gear to touch down without falling over. The first stage has 4 landing legs that deploy prior to landing and support the first stage.

Crew Capsule – The next feature of the New Shepard launch vehicle is the crew capsule. With so much importance and purpose surrounding the crew, a lot of work went into the capsule responsible for holding them. The pressurized crew capsule is environmentally controlled for comfort with room for six along with the largest windows to have flown in space according to Blue Origin. Inside it has many different features including handholds for ease of movement in zero-g. Multiple screens provide in-flight updates along with indicators. Six reclined seats with a five-point harness ensure safety along with comfort. Finally, you have a crew escape system that has been tested many times to make sure the crew within are safe no matter the circumstances outside. Blue Origin worked to not only make the capsule safe but stylish along with comfortable as well. All of this with the goal of increasing our access to space and bringing more eyes to the industry.

Reusable – Another important and unique aspect of New Shepard is the fact that the entire launch vehicle is reusable. I mentioned the first stage however the capsule is as well. Obviously, since there are humans within it, it needs to return to the surface safely. During the launch process, the capsule eventually starts falling back towards Earth. It picks up a lot of speed throughout the process. The capsule along with the atmosphere slows it down some and then parachutes are deployed to slow it down prior to landing on the surface. Specifically, Three large parachutes are deployed which slow the capsule down enough to land on the ground safely. The entire rocket being reusable plays an important role in future launches along with other factors. The first has to do with cost. Refurbishing the used capsule and the first stage along with adding new propellant are the main costs. The next benefit has to do with turnaround time. Not only is rebuilding a new first stage for example expensive, but it also takes a long time. The refurbishment process is much faster allowing Blue Origin to somewhat quickly and consistently continue launching New Shepard.

Safety – The last feature that I want to talk about and point out is safety. As I mentioned prior, safety is the top priority with any mission involving sending humans into space. Blue Origin makes it very clear the work they have put into New Shepard ensuring the crew is safe no matter the circumstances. Blue Origin has been flight testing New Shepard and its redundant safety systems since 2012. Altogether the program has had 18 successful consecutive missions including three successful escape tests. This helps prove the crew is safe through any phase of the flight.

Conclusion

Blue Origin is working on a lot of future big projects including New Glenn, BE-4, and even Orbital Reef. However, the company has continued to consistently launch New Shepard sending new humans into space for the first time. New Shepard is unique because of its single-stage, crew capsule, full reusability, and safety features. All play a necessary role in the rocket’s current and future success. While a lot of people are not the biggest fan of Blue Origin, the company’s success will benefit us along with the space industry over time. We will have to wait and see how New Shepard’s progress continues and the impact it has on future Blue Origin projects along with how we access space.