Blue Origin, a private American space technology company founded by Jeff Bezos, has announced it will pause its New Shepard flights and shift resources to further accelerate development of the company’s human lunar capabilities.
The decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the nation’s goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence.
New Shepard is the first reusable spaceflight system to vertically land and has flown 38 times and carried 98 humans above the Kármán line to date. New Shepard has launched more than 200 scientific and research payloads from students, academia, research organizations, and NASA. This consistent and reliable performance, combined with an exceptional customer experience, has resulted in a multi-year customer backlog.
Recently, Blue Origin successfully completed the 38th flight for the New Shepard program and the first of 2026. The crew included: Tim Drexler, Dr. Linda Edwards, Alain Fernandez, Alberto Gutiérrez, Jim Hendren, and Dr. Laura Stiles. New Shepard has now flown 98 humans (92 individuals) into space.
New Shepard’s development flight test program concluded in 2021 following 16 consecutive successful flight tests, including three successful capsule escape tests, demonstrating that the crew escape system can activate safely during any phase of flight.
Nearly 99 percent of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, ring fin, engine, landing gear, and parachutes. New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine is fueled by highly efficient liquid oxygen and hydrogen. During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard’s engine combustion is water vapor with no carbon emissions.
