Blue Origin To Expand New Shepard Fleet
SYDNEY, Australia—Blue Origin is developing three new suborbital New Shepard launch systems and mulling expanding flight services beyond West Texas, the company said Sept. 28.
The current two-ship fleet will be retired by the end of 2027, with the first of three new spacecraft expected to debut next year, Senior Vice President Phil Joyce said during the Global Spaceport Alliance forum ahead of the International Astronautical Congress being held in Sydney this week.
“The vehicles that we’re operating today have a service life that will carry us out to through the end of 2027 if we choose to use it, but we’re going to be phasing in our new fleet next year,” Joyce said on the conference sidelines.
“It’s going to be a much more operable vehicle,” he added. “We have a system that was designed years ago that is very expensive to operate. It’s very high maintenance.”
The new vehicle features upgraded systems throughout, particularly the propulsion module, which will be powered by a next-generation liquid oxygen- and liquid hydrogen-fueled BE-3 engine. “It’s going to look different,” Joyce noted, declining to elaborate.
The new ships are designed for quicker turnaround, which will enable Blue Origin to offer weekly flights.
Blue Origin is preparing for its 15th crewed flight of a New Shepard vehicle and its 34th flight overall since the reusable suborbital system debuted in August 2021.
The company’s West Texas spaceport can accommodate three New Shepard vehicles, though Blue Origin is interested in possibly offering the suborbital flight service from another location, including outside the U.S., Joyce said.
"We are trying to find a partner that is willing to invest," he added.
Demand for New Shepard rides, during which passengers and payloads experience a few minutes of microgravity, continues to outpace availability, which will keep prices at current levels for another year or longer.
Once the new ships are operational—and when competitor Virgin Galactic debuts its Delta-class SpaceShipTwo vehicles—prices should begin to fall around the end of 2027, Joyce noted. “The market will demand that,” he said.
Blue Origin does not disclose what it charges to fly on New Shepard, which can carry six passengers.
Virgin Galactic debuted flight services at $250,000 per seat and later increased the fee to $450,000 and then to $600,000. The company’s VSS Unity spaceplane completed its last commercial flight in June 2024. Development of the more efficient and economical Delta-class spacecraft is underway, with flights expected to begin in about a year. Virgin, which flies from Spaceport America in New Mexico, is considering developing a second spaceport in Italy.
