NS-36: New Shepard Flies Six to Space and Lands Booster and Capsule

Blue Origin's New Shepard launched the NS-36 crew from Launch Site One in West Texas on Oct. 8, 2025, and both the booster and the crew capsule landed at the end of a flight of roughly ten minutes. The capsule reached an apogee of 350,438 ft, and the booster landed about 2 miles from the launch site on its landing pad. The flight was described as Blue Origin's 15th human flight.

Crew

The crew included Jeff Elgin, Danna Karagussova, Dr. Clint Kelly III, Aaron Newman, Vitalii Ostrovsky, and Will Lewis, whose identity was revealed after the launch.

Ascent

After the countdown and command engine start, New Shepard cleared the tower. The flight passed 10,000 ft, then began throttling down for Q limiting before max Q, the point of maximum dynamic pressure. The BE-3 engine then went back to full throttle with chamber pressure looking good, and the vehicle passed 70,000 ft. Infrared imaging was used to see through the clouds, including a shot from the booster looking back down on West Texas.

The engine throttled down ahead of main engine cut-off (MECO), which was confirmed, followed by separation of the capsule from the booster. The astronauts were then in zero G, taking photos and looking out the window. The capsule passed the Karman line at about 3 minutes 15 seconds into the flight and later reached apogee. The windows were described as among the biggest ever flown in space, larger than a 747 window.

Descent and landings

The booster was to land first, and at 4 minutes 30 seconds it was descending past 330,000 ft. The astronauts returned to their seats after a 1-minute warning, and the capsule reached its atmospheric pierce point. As the capsule re-entered, the astronauts were pushed into their seats with increasing Gs.

On the booster, aerodynamic control surfaces deployed to steer it autonomously back to the landing pad, followed by drag brakes. Near 10,000 ft the engine restart was confirmed, with a sonic boom heard, then the landing legs deployed and the booster touched down. Booster auto safing then began, meaning the vehicle was made ready for people to approach before maintenance for the next flight. The team has a tradition of taking a picture with the booster after a flight.

The capsule's drogues were confirmed, pulling out the main parachutes, and all three main parachutes deployed, with the landing zone within expected range limits. A retro thrust system on the base of the capsule slowed it to about 1 mile per hour just before it landed in the West Texas desert. The capsule touched down about 9 and a half minutes into the flight and the crew was welcomed back, with a recovery team en route to safe the capsule and open the hatch.