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The New Shepard test program is meant to ensure the reliability and safety of the vehicle, with multiple flights being conducted on the three New Shepard rockets that have flown so far.<\/p>\n
The first New Shepard flight took place in April 2015, with a successful launch to an altitude of 307,000 feet (93.5 kilometers) \u2013 just below the K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line, which is the internationally recognized point where space begins \u2013 and a safe return of the Crew Module to the surface.<\/p>\n
However, the first New Shepard booster, powered by a Blue Origin-produced BE-3 engine and designed to be reusable, was not recovered due to a loss of pressure event in the rocket\u2019s hydraulic system.<\/p>\n
The second test flight took place seven months after the first, with the second New Shepard booster lofting its Crew Module to an altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before touching down in the West Texas desert via a retropropulsive landing \u2013 marking the first time that a suborbital rocket successfully landed after conducting such a flight.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/NSF-2019-12-10-13-00-57-186.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNS-11 touching down after its launch earlier this year \u2013 photo: Blue Origin<\/p>\n
That particular booster (New Shepard-2 or NS-2) would be reused and reflown four more times, culminating in a successful in-flight abort test of the Crew Module and the unexpected survival and landing of the booster in October 2016.<\/p>\n
Following the retirement of New Shepard-2, a new rocket and Crew Module (christened Crew Capsule 2.0) was built in order to closely resemble the spacecraft that will launch human passengers. This booster and capsule had successfully flown five times before this launch since its first launch in December 2017, with numerous commercial and NASA payloads flying onboard for each mission.<\/p>\n
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This mission marked the 6th flight for the New Shepard-3 vehicle, and the 9th commercial payload mission launched by Blue Origin.<\/p>\n