Blue Origin - New Shepard - NS-36 - Launch Site One, Texas - October 8, 2025

Blue Origin today announced the next crew flying on its NS-36 mission. The crew includes: Jeff Elgin, Danna Karagussova, Dr. Clint Kelly III, Aaron Newman, Vitalii Ostrovsky, and an undisclosed sixth crew member who asked to remain anonymous until after the flight. Clint is flying for the second time; he previously flew on NS-22. The launch is schedulded for October 8, 2025. The launch window opens at 7:30 a.m. CDT (1230 UTC, 14:30 CEST) and closes at 3:50 p.m. CDT This mission is the 15th human flight for the New Shepard program. To date, Blue Origin has flown 75 people, including five repeat customers, above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. All rockets take off, but not all land. Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, New Shepard is Blue Origin’s fully reusable suborbital rocket system built for human flight from the beginning. During the 11-minute journey, astronauts soar past the Kármán line (100 km/62 miles), the internationally recognized boundary of space, experiencing several minutes of weightlessness and witnessing life-changing views of Earth. The vehicle is fully autonomous—there are no pilots. About New Shepard by Blue Origin Function: Launching tourists and cargo on a suborbital trajectory Manufacturer: Blue Origin Country of origin: United States of America Height: 19.2m (63ft) Diameter: 3.8 m (12.5 ft) Mass: 75,000 kg (165,000 lb) Stages: 1 Launch sites: Launch Site One, West Texas Total launches: 36 Success(es): 34 Failure(s): 1 Landings: 32 First flight: 29 April 2015; 10 years ago Single stage Powered by 1 × BE-3 Maximum thrust: 490 kN (110,000 lbf) Burn time: 141 seconds Propellant: LH2 / LOX Crew Capsule Pressurized crew capsule with room for six people, environmentally controlled for comfort, and with among the largest windows to have flown in space. Ring & Wedge Fins Aerodynamically designed to stabilize the booster and reduce fuel use on its flight back to Earth. Drag Brakes Deploy from the ring fin to reduce the booster's speed by half on its descent from space. BE-3PM Engine Propels the rocket to space and restarts to uniquely slow the booster down to just 6 mph (9.7 km/h) for a controlled pinpoint landing on the pad. Aft Fins Stabilize the vehicle during ascent, steer it back to the landing pad on the descent, and guide the rocket through airspeeds over Mach 3. Landing Gear Deploys for the touchdown.