RSS First Step (Reusable Space Ship First Step) is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin. It is the third New Shepard capsule to fly to space, and the first to fly passengers. Its first flight was the NS-14 mission, which reached an altitude of on 14 January 2021.
History
RSS First Step is the third New Shepard capsule built by Blue Origin, and the first designed to carry passengers. It flew to space for the first time on 14 January 2021, during the NS-14 spaceflight. NS-14 also served as the maiden flight of the NS4 propulsion module. The following flight, NS-15, which was also flown uncrewed by First Step and NS4, tested boarding and deboarding in what Blue Origin called an "astronaut operational exercise."
First Step flew Blue Origin's first crewed flight on 20 July 2021, carrying founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers to space. This made Texas the fourth state to launch humans into space, after Florida, California, and New Mexico. As of November 2022, it has flown five subsequent crewed spaceflights, carrying a total of 31 people into space, including one (Evan Dick) twice.
The New Shepard fleet was grounded from September 2022 until December 2023 due to a failure during the NS-23 mission. The capsule used during the mission, RSS H.G. Wells, managed to abort successfully, while the booster was destroyed. The next mission NS-24 (uncrewed) and the next crewed mission NS-25 took place following an investigation.
Flights
Mission Launch date (UTC) Landing date (UTC) Crew Duration Remarks Outcome NS-14 14 January 2021 14 January 2021 Uncrewed ~10 minutesUncrewed test flight. Maiden flight of NS4 propulsion module. NS-15 14 April 2021 14 April 2021 Uncrewed ~10 minutesUncrewed test flight. Passenger process test conducted. Four Blue Origin employees serve as stand-in passengers. NS-16 20 July 2021, 13:11 20 July 2021, 13:21 10 minutes, 18 secondsFirst crewed flight of the New Shepard vehicle and first crewed spaceflight from Texas. Carried Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers. NS-18 13 October 2021, 14:49 13 October 2021, 14:59 10 minutes, 17 secondsSpace tourism mission. Second crewed flight of New Shepard. Carried actor William Shatner and three other paying passengers. NS-19 11 December 2021, 15:00 11 December 2021, 15:10 10 minutes, 13 secondsSpace tourism mission. Third crewed flight of New Shepard. First fully crewed New Shepard spaceflight. Carried Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, for whom the vehicle is named after, football player and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan, and four other paying passengers. NS-20 31 March 2022, 13:57 31 March 2022, 14:07 10 minutes, 4 secondsSpace tourism mission. Fourth crewed flight of New Shepard. Comedian Pete Davidson was originally expected to be on board, but was unable to fly due to a launch date change. Davidson was replaced by New Shepard chief architect Gary Lai. Five other paying passengers were on board. NS-21 4 June 2022, 13:25 4 June 2022, 13:35 10 minutes, 5 secondsSpace tourism mission. Fifth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included NS-19 crew member Evan Dick, and undersea explorer Victor Vescovo. NS-22 4 August 2022, 13:56 4 August 2022, 14:06 10 minutes, 22 secondsSpace tourism mission. Sixth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included first Portuguese person and first Egyptian person in space. NS-25 19 May 2024, 14:35 19 May 2024, 14:45 9 minutes, 53 secondsSpace tourism mission. Seventh crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included Ed Dwight, the oldest person to reach space. NS-2629 August 2024, 13:0729 August 2024, 13:1710 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Eight crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included Karsen Kitchen, the youngest woman to cross the Kármán line (100 km) at 21 years old. NS-2822 November 2024, 15:3022 November 2024, 15:4010 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Ninth crewed flight of New Shepard.NS-3025 February 2025, 15:4925 February 2025, 15:5910 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Tenth crewed flight of New Shepard.NS-3231 May 2025, 13:3931 May 2025, 13:4910 minutes, 7 secondsSpace tourism mission. 12th crewed flight of New Shepard.NS-343 August 2025, 12:423 August 2025, 12:5210 minutes, 14 secondsSpace tourism mission. 14th crewed flight of New Shepard.NS-368 October 2025, 13:408 October 2025, 13:5010 minutes, 21 secondsSpace tourism mission. 15th crewed flight of New Shepard.NS-3822 January 2026, 16:2522 January 2026, 16:3510 minutes, 12 secondsSpace tourism mission. 17th crewed flight of New Shepard.
References